Without realizing it, I have been on search for a really great blueberry muffin.  I really miss the ones I used to get from a place called The Market, Market Street or MarketPlace or something like that.  I just remember it being across the street and one block up from my first job, on the 40th floor of 1 Dag Hammskjold Plaza in New York City (49th & 2nd Ave).  It was one of those gourmet markets that used to make fantastic sandwich platters when we had those big lunch meetings… and even better muffin, danish platters for those pesky breakfast meetings.  Of course, that was back in 1990…  Their muffins were oversized, with these huge crusty muffin tops sprinkled liberally with chunky, coarse sugar.  Inside, they were light, fluffy and moist, tinged with blue and full of berries.  They melted in your mouth and then there was that satisfying crunch from the sugary topping… ah, bliss.

Since then, my experience with the blueberry muffin has been somewhat lackluster.  In Atlanta, muffins were usually relegated to those purchased as an after thought in a convenience store while paying for gas (since you practically live in your car)) or bought in a clear plastic clamshell at the local Publix… ugh.  When I moved back to New York City in 1997, I went in search of that now mythic place where they raised the art of the blueberry muffin to an art form.  But it was gone.  I couln’t even see a place that might have replaced it so I could stand out front and say, “Here was once made the best blueberry muffins in the world…”  did I imagine the store?  Did those muffins really exist?

Well, since moving to St Simons Island, I’ve really developed as a cook and have begun to really enjoy baking.  So I like to play around, cakes, pies, cookies, whatever.  My husband is a wonderful guinea pig… and whatever he can’t eat, he takes to work where he always gives me an update by mid-morning how the ravenous vultures at his office have devoured whatever baking project he set on the breakroom table.

Of course, by now, my muffin mythologizing had faded away, buried beneath so many years of disappointment and bland, boring, less than average muffins.  Last week, blueberries were on sale at Harris Teeter.  I had already made a blueberry pie (which my husband loves!) so when I caught a glimpse of the buttermilk on the refrigerator shelf, I thought: Buttermilk Blueberry Muffin.  Buttermilk has become a fascination to me… On a recent trip to Asheville, NC,  we had the best cake – Buttermilk Coconut Cake – at the Early Girl Eatery, by far our favorite lunch place in a city full of great places to eat.  I successfully replicated it last week (with a slight difference on the frosting but delicious just the same!) and was stuck with half a carton of buttermilk.

So I Googled recipes for Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins… and found numerous options.  I picked one  that sounded good and gave it a whirl…all the while thinking how fantastic these are going to be with the slight tang of the buttermilk and all those luscious blueberries. In the end, they didn’t rise up very much… and they tasted like something I could have picked up in a clear plastic clamshell in the mass-produced stack by the bread section at Harris Teeter.  Sigh.  And then I realized that buttermilk or no… what I was really expecting without even thinking about it, when I first bit into the freshly baked muffin… was that muffin from the long defunct shop in New York  City.

I did find some other recipes… some calling for sour cream, others cream cheese, all promising delicious muffins.  I suppose I will try them all, but  I think in the end, I will probably have to start from scratch… if blueberries continue to be plentiful and cheap… this could be the summer of the blueberry muffin…  Ryan’s office survived the great apple pie experiment of 2006… I suppose they’ll survive the blueberry muffin test kitchen of 2009.  On this,  I am quite determined.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “In Search of Blueberry Muffin Bliss…”

1. Midi Shaw says:

   July 31, 2009 at 2:20 pm

   Just tried another recipe I found on-line… this one called for milk and a good amount of lemon juice which seemed odd, but sounded like it might be good. These were the worst muffins I’ve ever tasted… yuck. Back to the drawing board…