Roasted Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

Conversation at our house earlier this week...

Me: Look, I made you muffins.

David: Those muffins aren't for me.

Me: Why do you say that?

David: They don't have chocolate.

Me: Oh? Well, they could still be for you.

David: They are pretty. You made them for the blog.

Me: Guilty smile.

Yes, I was busted. These were definitely blog muffins. But, they didn't start out that way. I was just going to make some nice simple rhubarb streusel muffins.
I'm not sure what got into me the day I decided to make these muffins. Somehow I got it in my head to turn them into flowers. I thought that the almond petals would stay in place and the batter would rise up around them. It didn't quite turn out that way. Honestly, they didn't all turn out looking so great. Some were perfect like the one above, but others looked more like coneflowers. They were all a pain to get out of the muffin tin without breaking off the petals. I ended up discovering that they were pretty easy to replace, just stick the pointy end of the almond back into the warm muffin. If I was to do this again I would just toast the almonds ahead of time and then stick them in the muffins when they came out of the oven. I don't see myself having that much patience again for a while. The muffins were really tasty, so I will definitely be making them again. Next time I'm just going to mix the rhubarb in and sprinkle the streusel and almonds on top and maybe then David will believe that I made the muffins for him. I wonder how they would taste with chocolate?

Blueberry Almond Scones (the quest for the perfect scone part 2)

As I warned you last week, I am on a quest for the perfect scone. This is not it! I replaced the cherries with dried blueberries and cut them into triangles rather than circles. Other than that, not too many changes. These were not bad, just not what I was looking for in texture or flavor. David and everyone at work seemed to like them. I will keep trying. Here is the original recipe...
Cherry Almond Scones
from Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup whole almonds
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
Egg wash made with 1 egg and 1 tsp water
1/4 cup coarse raw sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Place dried cherries in a small bowl and cover with warm water. Let soak for 10 minutes. Drain the plumped cherries, coarsely chop and set aside.Place almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for appromimately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool, then coarsely chop and set aside.Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.Sift flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and baking soda into a medium bowl and toss with your hands to combine.Divide chilled butter into 1/4 inch pieces and drop into bowl of dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut butter into mixture until texture is coarse and crumbly. Add the chopped cherries and almonds and mix with a wooden spoon. Combine egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a small bowl and mixt with a whisk. Add to dry ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon just until dough comes together. Take care not to overmix the dough. Coat your hands with flour and pull dough from bowl onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for a few minutes, folding and flattening it several times, until dough becomes moldable. Dust the work surface with a little more flour and roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Using a round biscuit cutter (about 3 inches), cut 8-10 scones from the dough. Place scones on the prepared baking sheet, bursh with egg wash, and sprinkle coarse raw sugar over the tops. Bake on center rack of oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let scones cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving.