two Muffin Mondays, I have either thought about, or have gone ahead and added, cream cheese to my muffins. How happy was I, then, with the discovery that this week’s muffins needed no excuse? These Cheesecake Muffins were the perfect way to kick off not only the Labour Day weekend, but a weekend of my early birthday celebrations, too. There’s just something about that velvety texture that really knocks my socks off.
On the topic of birthdays, I have always loved them. My love for birthdays has nothing to do with presents or attention, I just have always felt that I’ve earned my new age, and nine times out of ten, I feel fiercely proud of the things I’ve seen, done, and accomplished over the previous year. Birthdays are a time for reflection, a time to celebrate a year well spent, and to give an optimistic nod to the future and to all that the upcoming year holds.
Never have I experienced a crisis during my previous milestone birthdays: I was really excited to turn 20 and to leave my teens behind; I felt I had earned every year of my quarter century when the time came; I now have every reason to look forward to what my thirtieth year holds, based on all the goodness currently taking up residence in my life. I’ve always gotten annoyed with people who would (and sometimes still do) tell me that this feeling will change as I get older. It certainly hasn’t changed yet and I’m doubtful it ever will. It’s a mindset! A lifestyle. Why not encourage this feeling in people as they age? This is not to say that life has been perfect. I’ve had my own share of ups, downs, trials, and tribulations over the past several years, but I have a beautiful life nonetheless and I’m extremely grateful for the beautiful people and – yes – the beautiful food that enriches it every day. Birthdays, to me, seem like the best day of the year to sit back and take stock of your blessings, and hopefully, to be surrounded by those people and that food that make life so fulfilling. While I made these on Saturday morning, my big brother was sleeping upstairs, having arrived late in the night from Toronto for a quick, weekend trip. He got to wake up to the smell of these baking, a fact he seemed to enjoy an awful lot, and that made me pretty happy. Even better? My Cheesecake Muffins were then packed away into the car with us and en route to the country, to be eaten on a sunny, quiet Sunday morning with our parents and his daughter: my devastatingly charming and gorgeous niece, who had been staying with her Nanny and Poppy while her mom and dad moved house. Cheesecake Muffins
Adapted from BBC Good Food
Ingredients
350g/12oz Plain Flour
11/2 tbsp Baking Powder
140g/5oz Caster Sugar
Finely grated rind of 2 medium oranges
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
250ml/9fl oz Milk
85g/3oz Butter, melted
For the Filling
175g/6oz half-fat soft cheese
3 tbsp Caster Sugar
6 small strawberries
2. Mix together the soft cheese and sugar for the filling. Half-fill the paper cases with the muffin mixture, then push half a strawberry into each. Top with a teaspoon of sweet cheese, then spoon over the remaining muffin mixture to cover and fill the muffin cases.
3. Bake for 15 minutes until well risen and golden on top. Remove from the tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Makes 12 muffins
I didn’t make jumbo-sized muffins this week, now that I finally have a 12-cup muffin tin. Once again, however, I opted not to use muffin cups or liners. I like the result better when I just spray my pans.
I wanted to make these muffins even more like cheesecake, so I also added a Graham Cracker Crumble to the top.
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ounce graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Source: http://foodjetaimee.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-cream-cheese-birthdays.html
