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Cherry or Blueberry Muffins
1/4 cup shortening 1/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1 cup milk 2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup drained cherries Mix ingredients as for cake. Beat thoroughly. Add the cherries last. Bake in greased muffin tins, or in paper baking cups set into the muffin pans, in hot oven (425 degrees) about 25 minutes. (If blueberries are used, use 1/2 cup flour extra.)
A creamed-batter muffin from the era when quick breads were mixed like cake rather than by the modern muffin method. The instructions are complete; only a few conventions need translating.
- "Mix as for cake"Cream the shortening and sugar, beat in the egg, then add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. This creamed method gives a finer, more tender crumb than the usual stir-till-just-combined muffin batter. The recipe's "beat thoroughly" is best read as applying to the creaming stage; modern practice would stop mixing once the flour disappears, since prolonged beating after that tends to toughen the crumb.
- ShorteningVegetable shortening or lard in 1/4 cup; softened unsalted butter works and tastes better, though the crumb will be slightly less soft the next day.
- The cherries"Drained cherries" most likely means canned red sour (pie) cherries rather than sweet Bing cherries, though the recipe does not say. Drain them well and blot on a towel; excess syrup makes soggy pockets. Frozen tart cherries, thawed and drained, are the closest current equivalent.
- The blueberry noteThe extra 1/2 cup flour compensates for the juice fresh berries release. Toss the berries in a spoonful of that flour before folding them in to keep them suspended rather than sunk.
- Oven425F is accurate as written and is on the hot side for muffins, which sets the crust fast and encourages a good dome. The recipe allows about 25 minutes; start checking earlier if your tins are smaller than standard.
- YieldAbout 12 standard muffins. Fill the cups two-thirds full.