Black Raspberry Muffins

Guess what? This is post #501. What a long, strange trip it's been...


"If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one food," said Sadie, "it would be these muffins."

You will have to make them yourself to see if you agree.

Black Raspberry Muffins (adapted from Cook's Illustrated, via The Bitten Word)

2 cups fresh black raspberries, washed and picked over
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar, and another 1 tsp. sugar, separated
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup whole milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
More sugar for sprinkling (I used vanilla sugar)

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425-degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with muffin liners, and lightly oil the top of the pan with oil.

Bring 1 cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk remaining 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar together with the eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)

Use an ice cream scoop, large spoon or 1/3 cup dry measuring cup to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle additional sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.