The muffins are in the oven.
Assembly was not difficult…we’ll see in 18-20 minutes whether or not that was “deceptively easy” or not. Only took fifteen minutes or so to prepare. I used the Alton Brown Old-School Muffin recipe.
Lab Assistant Ben was baffled by my presence in the kitchen. Why was I there? Was it feeding time already? There’s no other reason for me to be in the kitchen for more than thirty seconds at a stretch. Perhaps it WAS feeding time. Woe! Confusion! He attempted to crawl into the dishwasher to see if the answers lay there, but was dissuaded by my strident protests that cats are not dishwasher safe.
Moment of Pride: Hey, I separated that yolk like a pro!
Moment of Dismay: “Mix just until batter comes together. Do NOT mix smooth.” Um. ‘Kay…?
Moment of Discovery: Wow, blackberry juice turns the dough purple. I will hope this is neat rather than unsettling.
My hands are now drier than the Sahara. I bet bakers use a lot of hand lotion.
Results: Edible! Not drop-dead amazing–they’re not terribly sweet muffins, which was mentioned in the recipe, and I think I’d prefer ’em a little sweeter–but they seem edible. I will inflict them ‘pon my friends and get a second opinion.
Downside: When removed from muffin pan, molten whole blackberries either stay with pan or drop out en-route to cooling rack, resulting in the creation of the “Oh my god, there’s a scalding blackberry on my foot” dance, coming to a nightclub near you soon.
