Precious Art By Precious People

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tbsp. grated orange rind
• 2 tsp. grated lemon rind
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp. turbinado or granulated sugar
• Candied zest (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place 12 paper muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, canola oil, orange rind, lemon rind and egg. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle batter evenly with turbinado sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center; place on a wire rack. Top with candied zest, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Candied zest:

Use a sharp vegetable peeler to remove the peel from 2 medium sized lemons, limes or oranges or 1 grapefruit. Reserve the fruit for another use. Scrape the bitter white pith from the back of the peel with a small paring knife; discard pith. Cut peel into ¼ inch thick strips 3 inches in length. You’ll get about 40 strips per fruit. Combine ¼ cup sugar and 2 tbsp. water in a saucepan to make a simple syrup. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Add peel, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool completely. Strain through a sieve, shaking off excess moisture to prevent clumping. Discard liquid. Separate pieces of rind and allow the pieces to air dry on a sheet of wax paper. Place ¼ cup sugar and citrus pieces in a bowl; toss well to coat.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

http://www.thasc.com