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Raised Rice Muffins
Make same as Raised Hominy Muffins, substituting one cup hot boiled rice in place of hominy, and adding the whites of two eggs beaten until stiff.
This is a variation entry, not a standalone recipe: it only makes sense with the Raised Hominy Muffins formula in front of you. What follows covers the substitution itself and the yeast-batter technique the parent recipe assumes.
- The hinge: temperature of the riceTemperature of the rice -- the original says "hot boiled rice," but the rice should be allowed to cool to lukewarm before it meets the yeast, or be mixed into the liquid and flour and cooled first. Rice hot from the pan can kill the yeast and the batter will not rise.
- Rice quantityOne cup of cooked rice, not raw. About 1/3 cup of dry long-grain rice, boiled soft and drained, gives roughly the right cup. Soft-cooked, slightly sticky grains blend into the batter better than firm pilaf-style rice.
- The yeast in the parent recipeA "yeast cake" of this period is usually compressed fresh yeast, commonly around 0.6 oz, though sizes varied. One packet, about 2 1/4 teaspoons, of active dry or instant yeast will stand in for it. Follow whatever rising time the parent recipe specifies.
- Adding the egg whitesThe recipe does not say at what stage the whites go in; the usual practice is to fold them through after the batter has risen, just before panning. Beat them to soft-firm peaks rather than dry, and fold in two additions so the risen batter is not knocked flat.
- Second riseA yeast batter of this kind will usually want 20 to 30 minutes in a warm place after panning, though the text does not specify it. The egg whites give lift in the oven but do not replace this rest.
- PansPeriod muffin or gem pans were often smaller than a modern standard 12-cup muffin tin, so expect the yield to vary. Grease them well; a yeast batter with cooked rice in it sticks. Fill about two-thirds full.
- OvenBake at 400F to 425F for 20 to 25 minutes, until well browned and firm at the centre.
- Yield and servingExpect about 12 muffins. They are best hot from the pan; the rice keeps them moist for a day but they stale into heaviness and are better split and toasted the next morning.
Yeast-raised muffins built on a cup of cooked cereal were a thrift technique before they were a fashion: leftover rice, hominy or oatmeal from one meal went into the sponge for the next day's bread, adding moisture and bulk while stretching the wheat flour. Rice breads of this kind were long associated with the rice-growing Carolina Low Country, where cooked rice went into everything from waffles to loaf bread, though they appear in northern cookbooks as well. Writing a variation as a single sentence hanging off an earlier recipe was a common cookbook economy: one full base formula, then the swaps, which is why the hominy version carries the instructions and the rice version carries only the substitution.