I had been looking forward to the release of the Miette cookbook for a long time. Miette is a gorgeous bakery in San Francisco with exceptional cookies and cakes. I happen to work near the location in the Ferry Building and sometimes it takes great willpower to not buy their treats (or pretty cake stands). I was ecstatic when I received my copy of the book and could start baking through it - the book is as pretty as the store and has all their amazing recipes, including scones that are no longer available.
The first thing I made from the book was lemon shortbread, which I sent to my sister and she said she loved. The second thing I made, or rather attempted, was carrot cupcakes, which were intended to go to work with me. I say attempted, because the cupcakes didn’t exactly turn out as planned. I overfilled the pans and they ended up looking much more muffin-like than the cupcakes they were intended to be. I had also made a mini-loaf and dropped it on the ground, much to the delight of a certain Weimaraner. I got over the aesthetics of the cupcakes - I mean really, no one is going to care if the cupcake is a little big. However, the cream cheese icing I made totally did not turn out. For some reason it was completely thin and when I tried to pipe it on the cupcakes, it just ran off. I assume this must have been user error: I used reduced fat cream cheese rather than full fat.* At this point I was totally frustrated and decided the cupcakes would not be going to work.
Since the cupcake/muffins did not end up going to work with me, Josh and I ended up deciding we could call them muffins and ate them for breakfast for several days. Okay, so I’ll finally get to the point of this story: this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe is Spiced Carrot Muffins, and since the failed cupcake incident and subsequent carrot muffin overconsumption was just a couple weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if Josh would be up for another round of carrot treats. Luckily he was, so I went ahead and made them.
I forgot to buy carrots when I went grocery shopping last weekend and didn’t get a chance to make the muffins until tonight, therefore I am unable to give them a rating, as we have not had an opportunity to try them yet. I will say they did not stress me out nearly as much as the last carrot treat. I have high hopes, though, and we still have a couple of the last batch in the freezer, so we might have an opportunity to taste the difference between a carrot cake and a carrot muffin. Many thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for hosting this week, you can find the recipe here on her site and visit the TWD site to see what the other bakers, who may have actually tried the muffins, thought of the selection.
*I take full responsibility for the errors I made with the carrot cupcakes from Miette, but if you are considering buying this book, I would recommend waiting until October. I received an email (actually Josh did, since the book was purchase from his Amazon account) apologizing for the errors in the book and saying that I would receive an updated version when it has its second printing.
9 comments:
Beautiful cake on that cookbook.
Oh, dear. But the dog was happy, so that's a plus.
Muffins were good, weren't they. Definitely a repeat here. And yours look just perfect.
These were easy to make and I'm sure you will like them when you try them. I especially liked the spices in the muffins.
oh gosh, that's too bad about errors in the book! Hope this carrot muffin turned out for you
We were at the Ferry Building when we visited SF this spring, and I was sorely tempted by the baked goods, but resisted. Next visit! I'm glad that J was up for more carrot muffins and hope that he wasn't disappointed by these. They were mild but good. I might have to stop back by here to see if you post a rating and/or a taste test.
I was just about to head over to Amazon and check out that book so thanks for the tip on holding out until they put out an updated version. For what it's worth, I've made cream cheese frosting with the reduced fat cream cheese in the past without issue so that shouldn't be a problem.
Your muffins look delicious! Mine baked up sort of flat, but they were enjoyed by the recipients anyway. Apparently I'm the only one hung up on appearance :)
The muffins look like quite a success! I look forward to seeing the wonderful things you make from the Miette cookbook. That cake on the cover is as cute as it gets!
The Miette cookbook sounds great. And that photo on the cover is gorgeous! Thanks for the tip on the errors in the book. Will definitely wait until after the second printing to buy it.
Sorry to hear about your carrot cupcake debacle. I get so annoyed when recipes don't work out the way I anticipated. But I guess thats part of the deal...you win some and lose some.
Your carrot muffins look delicious! They are making me look forward to fall baking. Hard to believe it's the middle of August already.
Muffins should not be stressful! Yours turned out beautifully. Too bad about the Miette cookbook - how frustrating!
Do you recommended the Miette cookbook? I can't resist their shop at the Ferry Building on the odd occasion I get up to the city. And their cake stands are just as hard to resist (I recall you have one of their plates that I drool over every time you use it).
The TWD ones turned out beautifully for me, a real favorite though a bit high maintenance to make in the morning.
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