Meyer Lemon Blood Orange Muffins with Candied Ginger
Oranges and lemons,
– English Nursery Rhyme.
Say the bells of St. Clement’s.
You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin’s.
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
When I get rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
A lovely friend from work keeps bringing in the most gorgeous Meyer lemons from her tree. Such a gift! I so love when people share food from their gardens and nothing tastes better than produce in season. It always reminds me of my beloved Grandma Evelyn, who was one of those people born with a green thumb, two open hands, and a giving heart.
And her flowers! Oh, they were something. A riotous, wild profusion of color and scent everywhere, and bowls of roses all throughout the house.
I have to confess, though, that as a little kid, I wasn’t thrilled to be coerced into running all over town with Grandma in the summertime, visiting her elderly friends and delivering paper sacks stuffed full of tomatoes and cucumbers and rhubarb, and bunches of flowers with their stems wrapped in tin foil. Only when I was much older did I realize what a kindness she was performing. That Viola and Everett and the whole host of other people we visited were shut-ins, or ailing, or unable to plant their own gardens. Not to mention the wonderful company she provided to sometimes-lonely souls, even with sullen granddaughter in tow.
So when someone gives me gifts from the garden, it seems criminal to let them go to waste. Here, I’ve paired the Meyer lemons with beautiful, vivid blood oranges in an easy, bright-tasting muffin, with a hint of candied ginger for a little zing. The deep color of the blood oranges makes such a pretty drizzle you might not want to skip it. (What makes blood oranges red, anyway? Anthocyanins, the same antioxident compound that puts the blue in blueberries or the purple in eggplant. Learn a little more about blood oranges in this snippet from Bon Appétit.)
If you’re like me and can’t get enough of Meyer lemons while they’re still in season, see Meyer Lemon Custard Cakes and read about the fascinating Frank Meyer himself.
Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Muffins with Candied Ginger
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp Meyer lemon zest
- 1 tbsp blood orange zest
- 1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh blood orange juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup candied ginger (optional)
Lemon Orange Glaze (optional):
- 1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp fresh Meyer lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh blood orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Line a muffin pan with paper baking cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, melted butter (it should be cooled before adding), lemon and orange zest. Add the buttermilk to the egg and butter mixture, then the lemon and orange juice, then the vanilla, and whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well, then stir until just moistened. Gently fold in the candied ginger, if using.
- Fill muffin cups evenly; they should be about 2/3 full, maybe a little more. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before moving muffins to a wire rack to cool completely (out of the tin). Garnish with a bit of crumbled candied ginger and/or lemon and orange zest, or drizzle with lemon orange glaze.
Lemon Orange Glaze
- In a small bowl or pourable measuring glass, whisk 1/2 cup of the sugar with the lemon juice and the blood orange juice. If mixture is too thin, keep adding confectioners sugar a little at a time, whisking until you have a thick and smooth but still pourable glaze. When muffins have completely cooled, pour glaze over the muffin tops. A squeeze bottle works great for this.
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