Blueberry Cherry Muffins

This is the 100th post published on this blog. So I thought it would be a good idea to post something simple but at the same time elegant. Today I prepared for you blueberry cherry muffins made with homemade crème fraîche.

I chose a blueberry muffin recipe from the book Pierre Hermé Pastries, but I made some adaptations by adding some cherries and vanilla instead lemon zest. I also made some sugar carnations as embellishment to add some loveliness to these sweet goodies.

That was the first the first time that I prepared my own crème fraîche (which means "fresh cream" in French). I prepared it like described on the Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. It is not difficult to make it, but you will need about 2 days to transform the heavy cream into crème fraîche. Every dish became fabulous when you add this cream and it couldn't be different for these muffins.

I hope you are having a lovely week!

Crème Fraîche

(from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan) 

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon buttermilk or plain yogurt

Put the cream and buttermilk or yogurt in a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid. Cover the jar and shake for a minute or so.

Put the jar on a counter and leave it for 12 to 24 hours or until the cream thickens slightly. How long this will take depends on how warn your room is- the warmer the room, the quicker the thickening.

When the cream is thick, transfer the jar to the refrigerator and let it chill for 1 day.

Blueberry Cherry Muffins

(Adapted from the book Pierre Hermé Pastries)

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 ½ all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup crème fraîche

1 sticks melted unsalted butter

1 cup blueberries

½ cup pitted cherries

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 360°F

Sift the dry ingredients (sugar, salt, flour, and baking powder) into a bowl. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients (eggs, cream, butter, and vanilla extract). Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined, and then fold in the blueberries and cherries.

Distribute the dough into the paper-line cups of a muffin tin. Place the tin in the oven and bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Eat them cold.