knocking down my mental blocks

Here's another small step towards getting out of my comfort zone...

I love baking and eating muffins, but believe it or not, this is the first time in my 5 years of baking that I have ever tried making savoury ones...

To me, it has always been, muffins = sweet, never savoury...and I am too overly concerned with whether my family members would be able to accept the taste. I even made myself worry with what to serve alongside a batch of savoury muffins...soup, salad?? These mental blocks were all knocked off when I finally sank my teeth into a soft, warm and buttery tuna muffin.

Thanks to the lovely post by Pook of Dailydelicious, her Tuna Muffins made me wanted to rushed into the kitchen to make myself some right away. I am always very inspired by her elegant pastries and mouth watering desserts....however, most of the time I failed to pick up the courage to try her recipes. I really doubt I could make anything close. But, this time, her savoury muffins look easy enough for me, and most important of all, my kids like tuna. At least, I know there is no danger of me having to end up eating all the muffins on my own ;)

As expected, these savoury muffins I made are miles apart from those by Dailydelicious. Nevertheless, the recipe yielded some really awesome muffins I have ever tasted. Other than taking the liberty to add in some sweet corns, I followed her recipe to a T.

I started preparing the ingredients just one hour before breakfast time. My table was already set when the muffins were almost done. I took them straight from the oven to the breakfast table and had to keep reminding the rest at the table to be patient, to leave the muffins to cool off a little.

My initial concerns were unfounded, these muffins were better than I could have ever imagined. I was filled with a great sense of satisfaction as I devoured a freshly baked muffin, every mouthful was a delight! I love the tiny hint of crisp on the crust lending a contrast to the soft, very fine, cake like crumbs. Surprisingly, they didn't leave a greasy after taste at all even thought they were made with the creaming method. I tried one later in the afternoon, eaten cold, it tasted just as good, I had no issues with the muffins turning dry. I warmed the leftovers the next day and they tasted just like freshly baked. Now, the only downside is, not everyone in the family is as receptive, guess I'll have to make these more often to get everyone to acquire the taste :)

Tuna and Sweet Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
(makes about 8~9 muffins)

60g tuna chunk (I used canned tuna chunk in water)
50g sweet corns kernels
half of a medium-size yellow onion (finely chopped)
some vegetable oil

180g cake flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
80g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
25g granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly grounded black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
120g milk

some parsley flakes (optional)

Method:

Saute chopped onion with some vegetable oil over medium to low heat until the onion turns soft and translucent. Leave to cool.
Drain tuna, break into smaller pieces with a fork, set aside. If using frozen sweet corns, thaw, wash and drain, set aside.
Sieve together cake flour and baking powder, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, salt and pepper until light and fluffy (I used a manual whisk). Add in the egg gradually, beat well after each addition.
Add half of the flour mixture, fold with a spatula to combine. Add half of the milk, fold to combine. Add half of the remaining flour mixture, fold to combine, followed by the rest of the milk.
Add the rest of the flour with the tuna, onion and sweet corn kernels, fold to combine
Spoon batter into paper cups or muffin pans lined with paper liners. Sprinkle parsley flakes over the top (optional).
Bake at 180degC for 18 ~ 20mins or until a tooth pick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Note the muffins will only be very lightly browned due to the small amount of sugar used.) Best served hot or warm from the oven.

Recipe source: from Dailydelicious