fifty frenchmen can't be wrong (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
some_stars) wrote2011-11-01 02:15 pm
some_stars) wrote2011-11-01 02:15 pm
(no subject)
I have made muffins! For the first time ever! There are some flavor issues, but the texture came out perfect--moist but still cake-like, crumby but not too much, firm and just a little chewy on top. They are in every way exactly what a muffin should feel like. (I am pleased to note that I achieved this with an ancient, warped muffin tin that I dug out of the back of a drawer; I get very neurotic about cooking equipment sometimes.)
The only problem is that they're pumpkin muffins, and I was expecting that when you take canned pumpkin and add spices, eggs, butter, flour, etc. you would get something that tastes like Pumpkin--like store-bought pumpkin bread or muffins, that particular spicy wintry dark taste. But my muffins, while perfectly nice, taste like sweet spiced squash. They have a distinct "this is a vegetable" note, without the pumpkin--->Pumpkin alchemy. Do I need more spices, or should I adjust my expectations, or what? The recipe I used had just over 1 tablespoon of spices--cinnamon, nutmeg, a tiny pinch of cloves--to 3 cups flour. I of course know absolutely nothing about what kind of ratio would be appropriate. I'm contemplating molasses, actually, which I remember using in gingerbread, back when I was in a gingerbread phase, and it added that perfect dark spiced note.
The only problem is that they're pumpkin muffins, and I was expecting that when you take canned pumpkin and add spices, eggs, butter, flour, etc. you would get something that tastes like Pumpkin--like store-bought pumpkin bread or muffins, that particular spicy wintry dark taste. But my muffins, while perfectly nice, taste like sweet spiced squash. They have a distinct "this is a vegetable" note, without the pumpkin--->Pumpkin alchemy. Do I need more spices, or should I adjust my expectations, or what? The recipe I used had just over 1 tablespoon of spices--cinnamon, nutmeg, a tiny pinch of cloves--to 3 cups flour. I of course know absolutely nothing about what kind of ratio would be appropriate. I'm contemplating molasses, actually, which I remember using in gingerbread, back when I was in a gingerbread phase, and it added that perfect dark spiced note.
no subject
I'd guess that you want to replace some of the sugar (and maybe some liquid) with molasses, and possibly add more cloves and some allspice. Maybe some (dried, powdered) ginger.
Congrats on your muffins!
no subject
no subject
I'd try replacing only half the sugar.
no subject
Yeah, I wouldn't want to replace all of it, I feel like that would yield extremely weird muffins.