Orange, Chocolate & Buckwheat Muffins
What a week!
The German Eat In My Kitchen book is out and my English book will follow next week, on the 4th October. Just 2 more nights!
The New York Times included the Eat In My Kitchen book in their list of 'The Best Cookbooks of Fall 2016'. NY Times' editor Florence Fabricant wrote a very nice review and also shared one of my recipes from the book. To call me excited would be a complete understatement - I feel insanely happy!
I had my first book launch event in my hometown Berlin, on the gorgeous roof terrace of the stunning Hotel de Rome. It was a golden afternoon, literally, we had blue skies and a slow sunset that wrapped the whole scene in magical light! There were so many wonderful people, fantastic wine from Meridiana Wine Estate in Malta, I offered my first food tastings - and saw many happy faces - and I held my first talk about my book, with dear Cynthia Barcomi. It was an unforgettable event and the best start possible for my book tour (you can see the pictures of the event here). Here's a picture of me at my launch, taken after I gave one of my cookbooks to tennis legend Boris Becker and his wife - the lunching family had to move table due to our event. I still feel a little bad because of that. Lots of nice pictures from the event are waiting on my computer to be shared on the blog, but I guess they'll have to wait a few more weeks, Malta is the next stop on my book tour. More adventures, book talks, and travels to come! To be continued ...
Here's a muffin recipe that I came up with - by request - a few months ago. Although oranges are a typical winter fruit, you can find them on the large fruit plate in my kitchen all year round. I can't live without their fragrant zest, especially in my baking. Pair it with bittersweet chocolate and you end up with one of the best combinations that the sweet world can offer (see last week's recipe from my cookbook). My quick and easy Sunday muffin is gluten free, made with buckwheat flour and ground almonds. It adds a nutty flavour, the texture is a little less dainty compared to plain flour, but the result is wonderful. Give me a cup of cappuccino and a few of these breakfast treats and I'm in heaven, especially when I can move straight to my sofa after a week of so much excitement.
Orange, Chocolate, and Buckwheat Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
buckwheat flour 200 g / 1 1/3 cups
ground hazelnuts or almonds 170 g / 1 1/2 cups
granulated sugar 100 g / 1/2 cup
freshly grated orange zest 3 tablespoons, plus more for topping
baking powder 3 teaspoons
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon
freshly squeezed orange juice 120 ml / 1/2 cup
whole milk 120 ml / 1/2 cup
organic eggs 3
unsalted butter, melted and cooled, 125 g / 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon
bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, 100 g / 3 1/2 ounces
paper muffin pan liners 12
Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F (preferably convection setting). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, hazelnuts, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, milk, eggs, and butter. Add to the flour-mixture and stir with a wooden spoon just until a lumpy batter forms. Gently fold in the chocolate. Mind that if you mix the batter too much, the muffins will lose their light texture.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 16 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden. Take the muffins out of the pan and let them cool on a wire rack for 2 minutes before serving. Sprinkle the tops with a little orange zest.
