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Friday, September 26, 2008

Upside-Down Lemon Muffins

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I think there is something special about upside-down desserts. I am not sure exactly what is it. Maybe it's the suspense on the time you remove it from the pan (there is always a little hesitation.... is it going to be just perfect? Is it going to fall apart?) Or perhaps it's the fact that you can see the main ingredient right on top, on this case, lemons.

These muffins are better served warm, and of course, upside-down. The lemon slice on the top (or bottom?) is edible, but some people might not like it. On this case, it can simply removed. I suggest trying it, the lemons are super sweet and just melt in your mouth.




And since this month's challenge from Leila and Cris is about muffins and cupcakes, I am submitting these little guys!



Upside-Down Lemon Muffins Recipe: (this recipe is adapted from an old Williams-Sonoma book I have called Muffins & Quick Breads)

3 lemons

1 tbsp water

1/2 cup sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teasp baking powder

1/2 teasp baking soda

1/2 teasp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400'F. Spray a standard 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

Finely grate the zest of the lemons, removing only the bright yellow portion. Set lemons aside.

Combine the zest, water and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the butter and stir until it' s melted, about a minute longer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove all the remaining peel from the lemons (just like you would do with an orange or a grapefruit). Cut crosswise into slices, you will need 12 slices. Pour about a teaspoon of the remaining sugar on the bottom of each muffing tin and top it with a slice of lemon.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a larger bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and reserved lemon mixture until smooth. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Spoon batter into muffin tins, bake for about 15-20 minutes. Immediately invert muffin pan into a wire rack and lift it away.

7 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I agree - I'm always fascinated by upside-down desserts for some reason, haha ;0)

Love those upside-down muffins you created!! Lemon is always such a refreshing flavor.

Snooky doodle said...

these muffins look really nice and yummy. The photos are great

Cris said...

Lindos... thanks for joining! xoxo

Anonymous said...

Hi Rita! This is Natasha from UAE... all the way across the ocean. Kristina recommended your blog and despite the fact that I am by no means kitchen-friendly, this recipe looked too good not to try. Unfortunately, though they didn't turn out awful...they weren't great either. One coz I think I made th lemon slices at the bottom too thick and second, the cake itself was not sweet enough. Anyway, I'm gonna give it another try. Next

Rita said...

Hi Natasha. Welcome to Pink Bites!
I am not sure what went wrong, but I think the important thing is to remove all the white part of the lemon before you slice it. Then top them with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar before you add the batter. It gets really sweet! But it's a lemony kind of sweet taste, kind of like lemon curd, a little sweet, a little tart. And you can always add more sugar to the batter. If you try again, let me know!

Anonymous said...

OMGGG
LMEON MFFUNS
OOMG
WOEWWWWWWWWWWW!
YUMMEH

Anonymous said...

o_O Lemon muffins? OMG lemon muffins! I just made a batch of these and they were amazing! Im gonna go make another 2 dozen for a barbeque!

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