Muffin.
Really now, is there a difference between a cupcake and a muffin? Is not one the same as the other with merely an aspiration of frosting? Is not a cupcake just a prissier muffin, perhaps a slightly finer body made with cake flour, but with no real substance on the inside, only covered with frosting make-up and adorned with flashy chocolate and candy accessories on the outside? Or is is that a muffin is the back asswards, lumpy, bumpy country cousin of the sophisticated city cupcake?
These questions, they are too much. I feel the need…I feel the need for…a montage.
The hour’s approaching to give it your best
And you’ve got to reach your prime
That’s when you need to put yourself to the test
And show us the passage of time
We’re gonna need a montage
Ooh, it takes a montage
a montage starts with mise en place
just the result of shredding
Show a lot of things happening at once
Remind everyone of what’s going on
In every shot, show a little improvement
To show it all would take too long
That’s called a montage
Girl, we want a montage
a muffin has substance
no need to show the baking
In anything, if you want to go
From just a beginner to a pro
You need a montage
Even Rocky had a montage
skip to finished muffin
Always fade out in a montage
If you fade out it seems like more time has passed in a montage…
background fade for effect now
too dainty for a fork
From chopped walnuts, shredded carrots, and raisins plumped in hot water to miniature carrot muffins filled with cream cheese…that’s how Team Sarah does a montage.
Carrot Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
I suppose you could also frost these with cream cheese frosting and turn them into cupcakes because if there’s any cake that’s the same as a muffin, it’s carrot cake.
Preheat oven to 350.
Sift together 1½ c. all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp.baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. nutmeg, and 1 c. sugar.
In a separate bowl, beat 3 eggs and 2/3 cup vegetable oil until lightened. Stir in 1½ c. shredded carrots, ½ c. chopped walnuts, and ½ c. raisins that have been soaked for 10 minutes in hot water (or warmed rum, if you’d like).
** As a side note, the bestbestbest carrot cake I’ve ever had in my life was at Just Desserts in Berkeley. I used to go to the one on College Avenue, order an enormous piece of carrot cake and an espresso and (pretend to) study until they kicked me out. The carrots in Just Desserts’ carrot cake were not normal shreds, like they were done on a box grater, but long and super fine, like carrot threads. Unfortunately, my little Japanese Benriner cannot make the carrots like that.
In another bowl, cream 4 oz. softened cream cheese with 1 egg yolk, ½ c. sugar, and ½ tsp. vanilla.
Fold the dry ingredients into the egg/oil mixture. Stir until just combined. Fill mini-muffin cups about ¾ full. Plop a generous teaspoon of the cream cheese filling on top of the batter in each muffin cup.
Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean.
** a year ago today, there was no donkey at tia juana’s **
tags :: food : and drink : american : cooking : baking : recipes : los angeles
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
hilarious and delicious! you don’t get too many montages like that :)
These look like a combination of carrot cake and cheese cake…..which means I have to make them for consumption immediately. Thanks for the photos.
I refuse to read the rest of this article because it will only ruin the hilarity of the title!
I refuse to read the rest of this article because it will only ruin the hilarity of the title!
Team America. Nice.
I have a whole new respect for you
I am so making these muffins this weekend… thanks for the recipe.
no offense to the carrot, but i want to take a spoon and scoop out the cream cheesy innards of all those muffins and shovel them into my mouth. yuuuuummy!
Your montage is waaaay too cute! Looks delish, Sarah!
Nice way to just have a couple of satisfying bites when they’re made into minis.
shauna: credit for hilarity goes, of course, to team america, which, to this day, i can’t believe i watched. not because it was bad (it was quite funny), but i rarely, almost never, watch movies.
tokyoastrogirl: now the question is, can we make a carrot cheesecake? i have often thought about doing it, and i have seen one on the menu at the factory place, but just wonder if it would actually taste like carrots…
peach: nothing to read. nothing to read at all…move along on now.
colleen cuisine: respect? LOL! do you mean…disrespect?!?! LOL!
cate: hope they turn out okay! and i think you should just go all out and frost them with cream cheese frosting. i have no idea what i was thinking to leave that off. :)
onetomato: great. not you gotta go and offend the carrot. hurt its feelings and all!
cat: just a couple? that’s what i thought too. i swear that’s why they were minis – youknow, tohelp with portion control on this silly diet.
HA! i ate like…six? seven?
*sigh*
seven’s a good number, sarah. ;)
is it 1 1/2 carrots or 1 1/2 cups carrots?
anon: aaaah! it’s 1 1/2 CUPS of shredded carrots. thanks for catching that. :) – sarah
Dang, now I know what keeps going wrong with my desserts: no montage in the middle! That’s why they keep ending up as still a pile of uncooked ingredients, even after the whole CD has finished playing and I’m already through two glasses of wine.
Knew I was missing something. Need more montage.
Okay, got it now.
On the other hand, forget it, I’ll just eat the pile of carrots and wash it down with cream cheese. :-)
joy: funny, sometimes that happens to me, too. all the ingredients are there, in fact they even make it out of the refrigerator onto the countertop. but somehow, they can never pull themselves together into a final product.
*shakes head*
lazy ass ingredients.
~ sarah
Aww man, I’m so disappointed. As I started reading the lyrics, I was hoping… no, dying for the final image to be blurred and faded. You know, to seem like more time had passed.
darn.
actually, i was going to fade it out, but it didn’t work out so well because i had an even number of pictures. so it has to pair with the one on the left. then the fade out wouldn’t be that dramatic. you know?
Oh jeez, I have to make these. I’ve been trawling for the perfect muffin and this. may. just. be. it.
Oh jeez, I have to make these. I’ve been trawling for the perfect muffin and this. may. just. be. it.
was trolling for a good carrot muffin.. this had such potential.
But i’m thinkin’ that the baking soda has to be more like 1/2 tsp. I have to throw the first batch out.
However, I may have to suck the cream cheese filling out before i toss them.
YUM.
I just made these, and the only negative was that I couldn’t be alone with them.
I am going to make this for my bible study brunch tomorrow! Yummy!
you’ll have to let us all know how they turn out!
I think I’m going to have to make these tonight, they look irresistible. As far as you know, the proportions are all accurate? I saw one commenter said there was too much baking soda…
hm, well i made the muffins exactly as the recipe states, and they were okay. unfortunately, i don’t know enough science of baking to know what too much or too little baking soda will do to something as hearty/strong as carrot cake. i’d think that it would just taste a little too salty?
Haha I don’t know either! Maybe I’ll split the difference…I’ll report back either way. Thanks!
Turned out great, I used 1 tsp baking soda. Though mine were not as photogenic/montage-worthy as yours. But tasty!
*drooooooooool*
Cakster: glad you like! now wipe that drool off your keyboard.. ;)
hmm… my cream cheese filling fell right to the bottom when i tried this. any ideas on what i could have done wrong? despite the appearance though, they were delicious!
even rocky had a montage
Fun little muffin-cupcake thing. Made them yesterday afternoon and got about 21 muffins (only fill normal tins ~1/2 way). I should’ve made more of the cream cheese part though but I have an over-developed sweet tooth so that probably isn’t good for anyone else.
That’s magic! It’s just as if I could smell your photos!!!
Made these for my wife’s birthday in November, now my dad wants them for his 60th today. Yipes! They’re really excellent.
OMFG I made these last night and they were AMAZING. My boyfriend ate 4 of them at like 12 am before bed. And it was so easy to make too!
Magical things.
My cream cheese fell to the bottom as well, and it didn’t look nearly as thick as yours. I did use reduced fat cream cheese, so that might be it.
I would use 2tsp baking soda, instead of both baking soda and powder.
Also, thought the cream cheese was a hair too sweet (and I am a sugar crazy person). . .
jenn: thanks for the tip – next time i do this, will try with all baking soda…
These muffins look insanely delicious! How many muffins does this recipe yield? Thank you! :-)
WOW! Team America AND cream cheese! I’m in!
How many servings is this for?
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