Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Ginger Peach Muffins

Sometimes you know certain flavors go together well. Take peaches and ginger. They make a great match. There's ginger cookies served with fresh peaches, a little ginger in the whipped cream for peach shortcakes, and ginger and peach jam. It's a mix that works. But, every once a while, you come across a classic flavor combination done in a way that makes it even better than you knew it would be. The ginger and peach flavor mix in these muffins was a wow, like I'd never tasted it before. Freshly grated ginger is mixed into the batter along with chopped crystallized ginger, and fresh ginger is also added to a melted butter and honey syrup used to coat the peach slices that sit on top of each muffin. It could have been the one-two punch of fresh and crystallized ginger or maybe that peach season is winding down and I really wanted to savor these, but for simple muffins, these puppies caught me by surprise. They're from Good to the Grain which means they're also made with an interesting mix of flours in addition to the interesting flavor mix. Here, oat flour is combined with all-purpose and whole wheat flours for a very tender crumb and mild, nuttiness.

You start by grating lots of fresh ginger and letting that lovely fragrance start to fill your kitchen. A little of the grated ginger was added to a skillet along with butter and honey, and the rest was left in a mixing bowl. The butter and honey in the skillet was melted, and sliced peaches were added and coated with the syrup and then the pan was set aside. The dry ingredients were sifted together, and those included oat flour, all-purpose and whole wheat flours, sugar, dark brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, the wet ingredients were added to the remaining grated ginger including melted and cooled butter, whole milk, sour cream, an egg, and finely chopped crystallized ginger. Wet ingredients were mixed into the dry, and the batter was ready. In all the muffin recipes in this book, Kim Boyce recommends using only every other cup in a muffin pan. By leaving every other cup empty, the heat circulates well and the muffins rise better. I had learned of this trick from a different muffin recipe, and it really does work well. So, the batter was poured into every other muffin cup, each muffin was topped with two peach slices, and the syrup was spooned on top of the peaches before they went into the oven.

Of course they smelled amazing as they baked, and of course they looked pretty with the peach slices on top. There was no doubting that these were going to be good. I just had no idea how good. I thought I knew all about peaches with ginger, but it's nice to be taken by surprise like this.



25 comments:

  1. A heavenly combo! Those muffins must be exquisite.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. These do look like they have a nice blend of different flours and the ginger and peach flavors must be heavenly together. Yum!

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  3. I enjoyed these, though I wasn't a big fan of the texture from the oat flour, personally. (Though I love oats, funnily enough!) Yours look great--my sauteed peaches didn't hold together so prettily. In any case, this has got to be one of my favorite cookbooks. I see we have a lot of similarities in our respective collections. Will be bookmarking this blog!

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  4. I love the peach topping! I'm always at a loss for how to make the topps of my muffins pretty without adding a bunch of extra sugar/butter.
    Tis peach season and we must use them while we have them!

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  5. I'm not a huge ginger fan because it reminds me of a bubble bath I used to use (and nobody wants to eat soap LOL). That being said, Mr P adores it, and these muffins are certainly beautiful!
    *kisses* HH

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  6. i have used ginger with apples and with oranges while making cake. This would be another fantastic flavor combo.

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  7. Those peach muffins look so adorable!

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  8. I can see where this marriage of flavours would be memorable Lisa.

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  9. Amazing Lisa. I love cooked peaches and sounds like a great way to use them on muffins. I sure miss making and eating anything sweet!!

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  10. I should order that cookbook. What a nice combo, they looks yummy and healthy.

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  11. I made these out of the cookbook. They were good verging on so-so. They were falling apart. Only good on the first day, so kind of a waste unless you're going to be eating them all. Be sure you put the muffin tray on a baking sheet. I had spill over from the peaches & butter mixture!

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  12. Anonymous: Sorry to hear that. I didn't have any of those problems. Mine held up well for a few days, and the peaches and syrup didn't spill over on mine. The crumb was tender so I stored mine in the refrigerator, but they were great even a few days after baking.

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  13. Tempting delicious muffins, I love look absolutely beautiful, big hugs.

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  14. I find the kitchen swelling with the smell of fresh ginger so comforting. Fabulous flavor combo. Glad to see your muffins came out well. They do look very tender.

    Bravo!

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  15. I love these muffins Lisa look nice and delicious! gloria

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  16. I've never tried a ginger/peach combo...this must change. Beautiful job on these.

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  17. Peaches and ginger definitely go together...a nd add a little nutmeg and cinnamon, and you've got heaven! These sound so delicious!

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  18. Dang! I baked up the last of the peaches last night in a crisp. Dang!!! I don't know whether it's the combination of Ginger Peachy or your tantalizing description of those beauties but, I must save this recipe and keep my fingers crossed that I find the last of the fresh peaches at the market tomorrow!

    Thanks for sharing, Lisa...they look heavenly!

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  19. Lisa, you managed to hit one of the VERY few flours I don't have! There I go, trying to sneak yet another "exotic" flour into my pantry, much to my husband's amusement ;-)

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  20. Ginger and anything and im one happy chappy, peaches 'n ginger though are, as you say, a total winner of a combo :) These look absolutely delightful, what a lovely muffin recipe indeed

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  21. These look like perfection. Peaches and ginger -- you simply can't go wrong with that lovely duo.

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  22. these muffins aren't messing around! they're hearty and SO full of flavorful stuff. i've not paired ginger with peaches, but fully intend to do so now.

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  23. A winning flavor combination to be sure, and those muffin tops look so nice and crisp- The perfect textural contrast to that fluffy interior!

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  24. Now how did I miss these? You must be baking and cooking up a storm because you've been on a roll with posting. Either that or I'm just getting farther and farther behind :-) These muffins look terrific! I'm sure the peach ginger combo was awesome.

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  25. These look fantastic - absolutely delectable idea to use ginger :)- I love making muffins and this one is a keeper - thanks for the recipe - will be trying it soon -Following you on FB :)Should you be interested in simple vegetarian recipes, please hop over to my blog - my followers are my inspiration! cheers, priya

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