Fig, Ricotta and Olive Oil Muffins
by eat in my kitchen
I’ve been dreaming of these muffins since I went to Malta almost 2 months ago. The idea of figs, soft, ripe and sweet as honey, crowning the top of a pale muffin got stuck in my head. Still in the Mediterranean, I must have bugged almost every farmer on the island (just a slight exaggeration) to find the fruits for my creation, but nature had other plans. It simply wasn’t their season yet, I was too early. Luckily we’re off to our island next week for a few days, so we can catch up on them and pick them straight from the trees.
At least this was my plan until the beautiful blog Design*Sponge asked me for a recipe for their In The Kitchen With series. While I was still chatting with lovely Kristina to get an idea of what they’d like me to come up with, I had a vision – a luscious baguette sandwich inspired by a picnic in the south of France. I could see whipped chèvre, dark grapes, bacon, honey, thyme – and figs. So here was the second recipe in urgent need of this fruit. I went on a hunt and finally spotted them at my trusted organic market, fresh from Israel, dark as the night, soft skinned and ripe! I bought a huge bunch, enough to lock myself in the kitchen for a whole day, to cook and bake with my delicious finds.
The sandwich came first and it turned out as messy and luscious as I had imagined, you can find the recipe and interview here. My muffins were my second project, equally satisfying – I had quite a successful day in the kitchen. To use my strawberry muffin recipe, with olive oil and ricotta, was part of the plan. I only added a little more sugar to the dough as the fruits lay on top, in the original recipe I stirred in the berries so they sweeten it with their natural juices. It’s still not a very cakey muffin, it’s more of a warm breakfast treat, to spread some butter on top and melt into the honey glazed figs. Somehow they almost taste like scones – or rather like a luxurious version of it.
Fig, Ricotta and Olive Oil Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
plain flour 320g / 2 1/2 cups
granulated sugar 130g / 2/3 cups
baking powder 3 leveled teaspoons
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
salt 1/4 teaspoon
organic eggs 2
ricotta 250g / 9 ounces
olive oil 100ml / 1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons
freshly squeezed orange juice 30ml / 2 tablespoons
ripe figs (soft skinned), rinsed (not peeled) and cut in half, 6
liquid honey 3 tablespoons, for the topping
Set your oven to 190°C / 375°F (fan-assisted oven) and put paper baking cups into the 12 molds of the muffin tray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a second bowl, mix the eggs, ricotta, olive oil and orange juice until light and fluffy and pour into the bowl with the dry mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have a lumpy dough (with a bit of flour left here and there). Keep in mind, the more you mix it the more it will lose its light texture.
Fill the muffin tray with the dough and push the figs lightly into the batter (I prefer them cut side up). Drizzle a little honey (about 1/4 teaspoon) over each fruit and bake for about 18 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle the muffins with a little more sugar or honey (optionally) and let them cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before you take them out of the tray. Serve warm with butter.
[…] Fig, Ricotta and Olive Oil Muffins […]
[…] Looking at the long tradition of baking in my life, I think there have been two recipes that I have come to use far more often than others, not only on Sundays. The first one is my fluffy German waffle recipe, it’s a family weekend ritual, and the other one is a fruit cake, any kind of fruit cake. It may sound quite simple but there are a million possible variations of this treat: you could add white chocolate, cornstarch for a lighter texture, or put some crumble on top. Olive oil creates a warm flavour and adds a juicy texture, great for a cake but also for my fig and ricotta muffins. […]
[…] Fig, Ricotta, and Olive Oil Muffins (if you can’t find fresh figs you can replace them with chopped dried dates) […]
design sponge? how cool is that, yeah? i enjoy that blog, big time. honestly, meike, if i had my way, your inventive brain and tummy would have a television show. rock it out, sister 🙂
now, about this post… that big ol’ chunk of fig you placed onto the tops of these muffins… brilliant! brilliant! brilliant! in my head, i can clearly imagine the figgy flavor getting mushed into the muffin with each bite. i can clearly understand that with this technique there is no muting of figgy-ness. see? the way your mind ticks is totally television show-worthy. now, i am going to go check out that sandwich~
Your words, your words … Thank you!! I like these huge fruity chunks in cakes and muffins – bold and not subtle! Enjoy your weekend! 🙂
[…] That’s how I felt! I thought about muffins for a second but I had just made them with figs (delish!) last week so they were out of the question, but pancakes seemed like the right […]
… love!..lovely!…I’ll.to try….look delicius!!!..
Thank you Tyzia 🙂