Bouchon Bakery - Corn Muffin
So I made the corn muffin. I changed one thing right at the start. When looking at the ingredients I saw the sugar content. Im not a sugar-phobe, just check my other posts. I like my corn muffins/bread to taste like corn with just enough sweetener to balance but not notice that its there. So, I reduced the sugar by half. It also calls for frozen corn. Right now there is fresh corn abundant here. I used fresh cut right from the cob. Next time I will up the corn to double the amount stated cause thats what I like. I also didnt give this an overnight rest. Just mixed and baked. Came out wonderful and went great with chili we had for dinner. I know, I didnt follow the book and thats bad. I just couldnt use that much sugar. And I like more corn in my corn bread. I will definitly make these again but with my changes.
Hi Manna, you should try roasting some of the corn and it will bring out some of the natural sweetness in it. I have made bread with roasted corn and it is one of my favorites.
Your muffins look good and I'm sure your next attempt will be even more to your liking.
Regards,
Ian
Im gonna give that a go next time. Im a fan of roasting the corn in the husk over fire (grill, charcoal or gas wood fire even better). A little char on the kernels will add some eye appeal to the muffins too. I want to add some cheese or jalapenos in the future too.
I recently made corn muffins from "Professional Baking" 4th ed by Wayne Gisslen. I used the amount of recommended sugar. The corn muffins were really good, but seemed more like corn cupcakes with all the sugar.
I did like the extra cornmeal in the Professional Baking recipe, 35% vs 20% in the Bouchon Bakery recipe.
Professional Baking uses 50% sugar, the Bouchon Bakery uses an even higher percentage, 53.6 %. Below are the Baker's percentages that I calculated for each recipe:
Bouchon Bakery - Corn Muffins
From Thomas Keller Bouchon Bakery
Baker's Percent
79.8 % all purpose flour
20.2 % cornmeal
53.6 % sugar
4.8 % baking powder
3.2 % Kosher salt
35.7 % eggs
66.7 % whole milk
35.7 % canola oil
28.6 % corn kernels
Professional Baking 4th ed - Corn Muffins
by Wayne Gisslen
Baker's Percent
65 % Pastry Flour
35 % Cornmeal
50 % Sugar
6 % Baking Powder
1.25 % Salt
30 % Eggs
70 % Milk
40 % Butter or Shortening (I used canola oil)
2.5 % Vanilla Extract
I agree with the stated amounts of sugar they would be corn cupcakes.
I think you are probably right on with your sugar reduction. Corn muffins should not be cake. Yours surely look yummy.
But speaking of fresh corn I was looking for something to take to work for lunch in the fridge and found nothing to whet my appetite. So I went out to the garden and grabbed a couple ears of corn. There is a microwave at work. I popped them in with the husks still on the corn for five minutes. Then cut the bottom of the ear off (along with about one row of kernels) and pulled off the husk from the top. It came off in one piece with all the silk. NONE OF THE SILK REMAINS ON THE EAR! Give this a test run and see if you like it .
Be CAREFUL when you go to pull the husk off, it's literally steaming hot.
Bluwberry
Next time Im in a time crunch for dinner and have some ears I will. We buy alot of corn this time of year and cut it from the cob and send it to the deep-freeze for the winter.
Hi MANNA,
Your corn muffins look really good.
Roasted corn in corn bread tastes great; tried that once using the formula in Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads (Ciril Hitz). This formula includes cheese - another tasty addition :^)
Didn't find the formula sweet, at 8.6% sugar + 17% honey.
But I'd put a lot of jalapeno in there, so 'sweet' didn't have chance!
:^) breadsong
I want to do a jalapeno/cheddar version of this. Maybe next chili night.
And I don't believe using fresh corn was a steer in the wrong direction. I might do the same as you since corn is abundant here as well. There is certainly a difference between a corn muffin and corn bread. I ate corn muffins all the time when i grew up. Corn Bread came later in life when i found the BBQ. It seems Manna prefers corn bread. Antilope said it just right. A corn cupcake. Yep that's a corn muffin. Corn done sweet and fatty like all muffins. The corn bread less fat more texture and just a touch of sugar. I'm not sure which I prefer. I think i like a corn muffin at breakfast and corn bread with dinner particularly with some BBQ. I like that your baking through his book. What's Next? So how are they anyway???
Josh
I baked the carrot muffin last night. Used zucchini instead of carrot. I cut the sugar in half on those too. I wont post pics of them but when I get some fresh carrots I will make them and post. The muffin was good even with the sugar reduction and veggie exchange. There was only a 1/4 cup sugar for the batch and my 3 yr old said it was tasty like candy. Really not that much sugar in there so Im happy she is happy.