Don’t recipes that claim to be best the same day annoy you? I know there are perfectly good reasons for why this may be true but I don’t care. I’m often baking for Bryan and I and if we were to eat everything I made in one day we would likely be dead by now. I like things to last a few days. I like to bring them to work for an afternoon snack. I even like to get bored of them by day three and excited to move on to the next treat. I sometimes find myself avoiding the recipes that tell me I have to eat it all that day, but that is silly and these little cakes will demonstrate why.
These blueberry cornmeal cakes (not muffins as Bryan kept calling them—cakes) are another treasure from Claudia Fleming who I have been talking about a lot lately (seriously people, if you don’t have The Last Course- track it down!). These cakes really and truly are so exceptional on the day they are made. They’re not bad the next day either, but on the day they are baked they have a delicate little crust on top that provides the perfect gateway to the hearty cornmeal crumb and fruity berries. They manage to be both elegant and rustic at the same time. These would be great for a brunch or could be dressed up with a scoop of ice cream for dinner. They are just so delicious that you need go make them right now and eat some as soon as they are cool enough to do you no harm. You’ll understand why sometimes things are just better the day they are made and you’ll forgive them for it.
Blueberry-Cornmeal Cakes (adapted from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake flour
- 1/4 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup egg whites (8 or 9)
- grated zest of 1/2 orange
- 1 cup blueberries
Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook until some of the milk solids fall to the bottom of the skillet and turn a rich brown. The browned butter will smell nutty. Strain the browned butter through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and discard solids.
Sift together the sugar, almond flour, cake flour, and cornmeal. Place the sifted ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. On the lowest speed, add the egg whites and zest. Mix until all of the dry ingredients are wet. Increase the speed to medium-low and add the browned butter. Increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the blueberries.
Butter and flour 12 muffin tins. Spoon the batter into the tins and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
*** I didn’t try this, but Fleming claims the batter can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. SOooooo, technically you could bake 4 muffins a day and have them fresh each day!
