Blueberry Streusel Jumbo Muffins

So far this year it has been my pleasure to bake 65 dozen (yes that is nearly 800!) jumbo muffins. The coffeeshop for which I provide baked goods most often requests blueberry, cranberry orange, and banana pecan. Finding the perfect recipe was a trial and error process, with the kind coffeeshop owner patiently providing feedback after each batch. The first time I tried this recipe, I knew I had a winner. With some minor adjustments to the ingredients, this is the base recipe I use for nearly all muffin requests.

Jumbo Muffins
2-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
5-1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place muffin liners in a 12-cup large muffin pan.

In a large bowl, blend sugar with oil and vanilla. Lightly whisk eggs, then add sour cream and buttermilk and mix together. Add to sugar/oil mixture.

In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add frozen blueberries and toss until berries are coated. Add all at once to liquid mixture. Fold and blend very lightly, until most of liquid is incorporated but flour is still showing.

With a large ice cream scoop, fill muffin liners with batter, distributing evenly and mounding up. Sprinkle generously with your favorite streusel recipe.


Bake for 10 minutes at 425; lower oven to 400 degrees for 5 minutes; then lower oven to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown or cake tester comes out clean, approximately 15 more minutes, depending on oven. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove to wire rack.

Peach Mango Cupcakes

Although I still hope to find fresh Oklahoma peaches for an Oklahoma Fresh Peach Pie for the Fourth, I did manage to locate out-of-state peaches that were fragrant and not hard as rocks to use in Fresh Peach Streusel Muffins for a customer. I had a couple of peaches left over, so I decided to try peach puree in place of the strawberry puree in these strawberry cupcakes. I added a ripe mango and ended up with about a cup of puree. The resulting cupcakes were not overly peach-flavored, but they were moist and luscious even without frosting.

But the frosting was wonderful!


I used one stick of softened salted butter, about 3/4 cup of yogurt cheese from Oklahoma's Wagon Creek Creamery, one-fourth to one-third cup of the peach-mango puree, and 5 to 6 cups of powdered sugar. The result was creamy, tangy, and tasted delicately of peach and mango. The consistency was a bit soft to pipe, so I just spread it with a knife.


I found some Fourth of July-themed cupcake liners at Hobby Lobby.


Mom and I shared one; she ate her half with a fork because it was so falling-apart good.

Scouting Out the Competition - Sprinkles

It is always fun to visit a cupcake bakery and especially one of such celebrity as the Beverly Hills-based Sprinkles Cupcakes. When we were in Dallas recently, we made the trek to the The Plaza at Preston Center, an upscale shopping center where the gourmet cupcake bakery, with its sparse, modern decor, has been in place since 2007.

Candace Nelson, owner of Sprinkles, shared her recipe for strawberry cupcakes with the world on Martha Stewart's show and website. Once I tried the recipe, I was hooked on the moist texture and natural taste--no strawberry jello or cake mix--and with a minor tweak or two this has become my Strawberry Bliss Cupcake, second in popularity to my Vanilla Bean Cream Cupcake. One of my purposes in visiting the bakery was to compare the actual store cupcake to my cupcake.

For Goodness Sake Strawberry Bliss Cupcake
We arrived at mid-afternoon, and there were at least 20 fashionably attired ladies crowded inside the tiny store. My husband stood at a safe distance while I carefully chose my cupcakes. As I started taking pictures of the famed cupcake display, the cool young woman behind the counter said, "I'm sorry, no pictures allowed in here." Huh? But, I replied brilliantly in my best whining tone, I've seen pictures of Sprinkles' displays on blogs. "Sorry, company policy." Not quite the welcoming atmosphere I would strive for in my future bakery!


After choosing four flavors and paying $13.00, I waited impatiently until we reached our hotel before taste-testing. In my haste to sample, I forgot to take pictures of my cupcakes.

My review, in order of preference:
Strawberry - every bit as moist and tasty as mine, naturally colored and fragrant with real strawberries; the frosting was equally luscious.
Red Velvet - tender and moist with a hint of cocoa; especially delicious paired with the Cream Cheese frosting.
Lemon Blueberry - a bit dense with a dominant taste of lemon extract; the blueberries were juicy and flavorful; the Lemon Cream Cheese frosting had the same lemon extract flavor.
Chocolate Marshmallow - least favorite--the chocolate cake was unexceptionally flavored; the chocolate ganache was quite bitter, and it is indeed advertised as bittersweet; the marshmallow was a tiny dollop for which I had to search.
The creamy frosting, with no gritty feel of powdered sugar, is worthy of eating alone.

Sprinkles Cupcakes = very good; Sprinkles Bakery = a bit pretentious