berry muffin

Driscoll’s selected berry muffins combine blackberries, blueberries and raspberries with a buttermilk batter. This version chooses ground cardamom from the recipe’s spice options, giving the juicy berries a lightly spiced setting.

A portion of the sugar is mixed with part of the cardamom. Buttered muffin wells receive this mixture, with some reserved for the tops, while buttermilk, two eggs and vanilla are whisked separately.

The main portion of flour is whisked with the batter sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and the remaining cardamom. Chilled unsalted butter is cut in until the pieces are pea-sized or smaller, then the buttermilk mixture is gently stirred into it.

The slightly frozen berries are tossed with the reserved flour and folded into the batter. The filled muffin wells receive the saved sugar mixture before baking, with the pan rotated partway through.

After a brief rest in the pan, the muffins move to a rack to cool completely before immediate service. Their three-berry filling contrasts with the buttery, sugar-and-cardamom surface treatment.