We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last
a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.
—Ray Bradbury
My good friend and neighbor, Gene, celebrated his 89th birthday the other day. There were a lot of people celebrating with him, too. Gene is a former science teacher at Long Beach Wilson and an all-around smart and good person. Sarah, his wife, hosted a jubilant family dinner on his birthday. Family and friends flooded the family Facebook page with cheers and good wishes or stopped by to offer their good wishes in person.
Juliet and I paid him a visit, too.
Juliet, ever elegant, was dressed to the nines in her vintage pink lamé jacket. Gene is high on her list of favorite people. (The pup likes to party, too.)
Our birthday gift was a box of cornmeal cupcakes decorated with blood orange slices that had been macerated in tangerine marmalade. (We used the wonderful marmalade Sarah gifted us from her kitchen. The marmalade was made from tangerines harvested from yet another neighbor’s tree picked just at the perfect point of ripeness. Clearly, it takes a neighborhood to make an exquisite jar of marmalade!)
The magic in this recipe is that, to get to the subtle not-too-sweet deliciousness of the corn muffins, you have to bite through a “candied” blood orange slice. Those sweet contrasting textures make the recipe pop.
So, one more time, great good wishes, Gene. Party on!
This recipe is adapted from one that appears in The New Sugar and Spice Cookbook by Samantha Seneviratne. The cookbook is available from your local bookstore or from Amazon here. Here is a link to the original recipe as it appeared in Fine Cooking Magazine: Marmalade Cake/Fine Cooking Magazine.
These muffins are at their best eaten on the day you bake them.
Here is the recipe.
Tangerine Marmalade Cupcakes
Ingredients
- For the Marmalade Glaze:
- 3/4 C. marmalade
- 1/4 C. water
- 2 small blood oranges (sliced thin)
- For the Cupcakes:
- 1 C. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 C. yellow cornmeal (finely-ground)
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. kosher salt
- 3/4 C. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 3/4 C. sugar
- 2 t. finely-grated lemon zest
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 2/3 C. buttermilk (at room temperature)
Directions
- Step 1 To make the glaze:
- Step 2 Put marmalade and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Submerge the blood orange slices in the marmalade. Cover the slices with a round of parchment paper. Cut a small hole into the center of the parchment paper. Simmer until the blood orange slices are tender. If the marmalade reduces too much, add a bit more water.When the slices are tender, remove from the heat. Set aside to cool. When the mixture has cooled, remove a few of the orange slices and chop into fine pieces. Set aside.
- Step 3 To make the cupcakes:
- Step 4 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 5 Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Step 6 In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it is smooth and fluffy. Mix in the chopped orange and the lemon zest. Add the eggs (slightly beaten) one at a time. Then add one half of the flour mixture. Mix in the buttermilk. Mix in the rest of the flour mixture. Spoon the batter into cupcake cups.
- Step 7 Bake the cupcakes for 16-18 minutes. When they are done, a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcakes will come out with only moist crumbs attached. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely on the counter.
- Step 8 Decorate the cupcakes with a slice of the macerated blood oranges. Brush the top of the cupcake with marmalade glaze.
- Step 9 Cook’s Note: The cornmeal in these cupcakes gives the finished cupcakes a delicate texture. These cupcakes are best eaten on the day they are baked.
2 thoughts on “Happy Birthdays and Tangerine Marmalade Cupcakes”