The Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis is known as the South’s Grand Hotel. And it is grand, with its marble lobby complete with of fountain to which ducks are paraded in and out twice a day. The Peabody was restored and re-opened in 1981 after a storied history of decline and resuscitation. I have been to many events at the Peabody, from wedding receptions to conferences to meals at its various restaurants, including its once famous Skyway Brunch. But I don’t remember ever having an afternoon tea there, or these muffins. But the recipe comes from Gracious Goodness, a cookbook published by the Memphis Symphony League. It is titled Peabody Muffins and the introduction waxes fondly about teas and luncheons with mother and the World War II days when soldiers in uniform populated the lobby and hors d’oeuvres were served on silver trays. This is long before the incarnation of the Peabody I know. So these muffins may be a storied part of Memphis history, but they are only a part of my history because of this recipe in that community cookbook. The muffins, however, are excellent. Very simple, easy to make vanilla scented muffins that are the perfect vehicle to homemade jam, which is why I came to this recipe. They are excellent on their own as well.
But I wanted to do something a little different and out of the blue, this idea of a sweet and tangy blueberry dip came to me. It’s just a slightly more fun way to get jam onto a muffin.
The dip is basically a blueberry compote blended until smooth. But you do want it looser than a jam, but not quite as thin as syrup. So pull it from the heat when it’s relatively loose, because it will thicken while cooling. But honestly, don’t stress, if it’s not as dippable as intended, it can be spread on the muffins like jam. Do not balk on the amount of vanilla – it’s what makes these muffins special. If you have vanilla bean paste, you can use that and get the nice flecks of vanilla bean.
Ingredients
- For the Dip
1 pint fresh blueberries
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon ground cardamom or ground nutmeg
- For the Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Directions
- For the Dip
- Place the all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently, lower the heat and cook for 5 – 8 minutes, until the berries start to break down slightly. Use an immersion blender to blend until mostly smooth. You want his on the liquid side, so you can easily dip the muffins in and it will thicken as it cools, so remove it from the heat when it’s pretty loose. Cool completely and keep covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Leftovers are great on ice cream, pancakes or swirled into yogurt.
- For the Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 24-cup mini muffin tins with baking spray such as Bakers’ Joy.
- Stir the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Measure the milk in a 2-cup measuring jug, then crack in the egg, add the melted and cooled butter and the vanilla and whisk to combine and beat the egg. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients are visible in the bowl. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tin and bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden at the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can store the muffins in an airtight container overnight.
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