Upside Down Blueberry Muffins

The last of the blueberries were getting slightly soft, better for suited for baking with than eating fresh, so I made these muffins with them, and the zest from the last lemon in the fruit bowl. I used the lemon juice to make a salad dressing for dinner.

The batter is flavoured with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, and has a light, tender crumb. The real star of the muffin is the sticky caramel and blueberries that are baked under the batter, and end up being the top of the muffin when unmoulded. A slightly different take on a blueberry muffin...a bit more fun, and a bit more messy!

As the muffins cook, the blueberries release their juice into the caramel, and also partly into the muffin. These were a very tasty breakfast with a fresh peach, and my coffee this morning...

Before you start, lightly grease a muffin pan. Place onto a baking sheet to catch any drips (the caramel can bubble) and set aside. Heat the oven to 250F.

In a small saucepan, melt:

2 ounces butter with
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Stir in:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cook, stirring, until the sugar has melted and the mixture just starts to bubble.

Divide the caramel between 10 muffin cups in the greased pan.

Divide the blueberries between the 10 muffin cups. I used:

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Set aside while you make the muffin batter.

Cream until light and fluffy:

4 ounces softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar

Add:

1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix to combine.

Add half of the dry ingredients, and mix on low to combine.







The full amount of dry ingredients is:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Add the wet ingredients and mix to combine:

3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons milk






Add the remaining half of the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, scraping the bowl down well to make sure all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.

Divide the batter between the 10 muffin cups, being careful not to disturb the caramel and blueberries.

Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean and dry, and the tops of the muffins are golden and slightly cracked.

This should take 25 - 28 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave for 5 minutes before unmoulding the muffins from the pan.

 To remove from the pan, gently loosen the top edges of each muffin. Place a cooling rack over the top of the muffins and flip it over.

Leave for a couple of minutes, allowing the caramel and blueberries to separate from the pan.

Carefully lift the muffin pan away from the muffins.

Your upside down muffins are ready to serve!!!

• This muffin is a version of the classic pineapple upside down cake...smaller size, different fruit, still an amazing contrast of sticky caremelized fruit and soft, tender cake.
• Feel free to use any fruit you have available...peaches, plums, apricots, pineapple, banana, rhubarb.
• Add chopped nuts to the caramel...pecans, almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts.
• Other spices that can be used include fresh or ground ginger; aniseed; cardamom.
• If you have no sour cream, use plain yoghurt or buttermilk. You can also add the juice from the lemon to the equivalent amount of milk and leave it to curdle before adding it to the batter.
• If you use bananas or pineapple as your fruit, consider substituting rum for 1 tablespoon of the milk.
• It is important to leave the muffins for a minute or two before attempting to unmould them. This allows the hot caramel to firm up a bit. Don't wait too long, however as it will set too firmly and not come out as easily. If this happens put the pan back into the oven for a minute or two to soften it up.
• Remember hot caramel is sticky and burns! Do not serve these until it has cooled down enough to eat without burning any tongues.