A Southern Grace: lemon law

January 25, 2012

lemon law

Yum

There's a notion known as the lemon law which has to do with the reimbursement for recently-purchased vehicles that fail to meet certain standards. A hilarious episode of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother centered on the idea of applying the law to dating--you don't like your blind date after five minutes? No problem, the date's off, your night is saved! I submit that we should also be able to apply it to an ordered meal.


Why not? If the food is gross or far from what I anticipated and I'm not able to choke it down, should I be forced to pay for it? Probably. Definitely. But that's just something to consider.


Working in a bakery means I've tried many, many types of muffins, and I'll state with confidence that these are the most cake-like I've ever had. Their texture is delicate and as fluffy as a down pillow, and each bite just dissolves in the mouth. Plus, they're adequately sweet without being a sugar-rush source. The simplest of all crumb toppings (three basic ingredients!) just contributes to the magic, adding a buttery richness and textural contrast all at once. The lemon flavor is bright and the overall effect is an enjoyable one.


Bonus: You can make the batter and topping ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for days, nay, weeks! Look somewhere else for a fiber-filled, nutritious, and minimally tasty muffin, my friends. This is dessert for breakfast, and the lemon law need not be applied.

Luxurious Lemon Muffins
(adapted from these)
(makes 24 huge muffins)

6 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 eggs
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
2 cups butter, melted
3 tablespoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, butter, lemon peel and juice. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

42 comments:

Unknown said...

Lemon Muffins looks sooper fluffy and delicious...Love to have a bite..

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Gorgeously fluffy muffins! They look amazing.

Cheers,

Rosa

pam said...

Okay, I might just have to start baking.

Abby said...

I adore a GOOD muffin. It must be fluffy, like these, and have a generous crumb topping, like these!

Mel said...

A muffin with any kind of crumb topping speaks to my soul. These lemon ones (especially with your glorious description) sound fantastic! And I, for one, would love to see the lemon-law applied to facets of life.

Mimi said...

Yum. I'm pretty sure that the batter would not sit in my fridge for a week since all of my kids know how to operate the oven. Mr. Mimi is another story.
Mimi

Alicia Foodycat said...

I die. These are gorgeous!

Juliana said...

Grace, I have all the ingredients and you sold me on the texture of these muffins...look awesome.
Thanks for this simple recipes and hope you are having a fantastic week :)

Becki's Whole Life said...

If I had some sour cream I would get up off my chair and make these right now. Seriously...three of my favorite things 1) lemon 2) sour cream in baked goods 3) streusel. Wow...pinning this one and I WILL be making these soon.

Sue/the view from great island said...

As usual your creative photos reeled me in. You've captured the texture so well, and that decapitated muffin is amazing. I will definitely be making these because I love anything with lemon and I LOVE a cupcake disguised as a muffin.

Lyndas recipe box said...

You had me at "dessert for breakfast". I'm drooling just looking at the pictures Grace. Lemon just does that to me. so bookmarked.

Neil | Butterfield said...

Most restaurants that I have been to have corrected any complaints that I have had about their food. Not that I have had many.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Lemon is my chocolate and the way your describe these muffins makes them a must try.

Joanne said...

Totally agreed...I've been on enough bad dates that I think the lemon law should DEFINITELY appeal to dating. Why waste the time?

And bad meals - why waste the calories?

These muffins don't need to worry though. Heaven.

Leslie said...

4 cups of flour? That must be a massive amount of batter!!! Good for me...more batter for me to eat!

oneordinaryday said...

Perfect treat to brighten up a cold January day in PA.

Hornsfan said...

yummy! and i agree, gross meals shouldn't be something i have to just pay for : (

Elizabeth said...

I totally just put this on my "things to make list". They look incredible!!

Beth said...

When did the word "lemon" start referring to things that don't work? These muffins would totally work for me!

Rosita Vargas said...

Que bello muffins aromático y esponjoso.
Grace como siempre ud me tienta,abrazos y abrazos.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

LOL imagine life with the lemon law! these would of course pass muster but imagine how much harder people would try with it in place! :P

Erica said...

I love lemon bread and your muffins sound and look amazing!What a delicious treat!

Gloria Baker said...

amazing and delicious, I love all with lemon!!!:)

Pam said...

I love lemon treats so this one is calling my name. They look moist and delicious.

Half Baked said...

Lemon muffins for breakfast...Like that lemon law!

Deborah said...

I love lemons, I love muffins. These were made for me!!

Jeff @ Cheese-Burger.net said...

This muffin is so great!

Angie's Recipes said...

Muffin looks TERRIFIC with thick layer of streusel!

Julie M. said...

Oh how I love lemon sweets! I could easily put back one of these beauties no problem. I didn't know you worked in a bakery; very cool!

lisa is cooking said...

With zest and juice and sour cream, I can tell these are no lemon! The crumb topping looks great too. These would make my morning.

Carolyn Jung said...

Love the lemon law applied to dating. A few of my single gal pals would heartily agree something like that should exist. ;)

MegSmith @ Cooking.In.College said...

Uh those look absolutely incredible!!!

Also...lemon law as per Barney is AWESOME! (or should I say LEGEN...wait for it...DARY))

Hungry Dog said...

These sound fantastic--doesn't sour cream make everything right in the world of baking? But my favorite part about the recipe is that it makes 24 "huge" muffins. Yeah!

Amy (Savory Moments) said...

These look so moist and delicious! I'm loving all things citrus right now, too.

Lori said...

What is one of my favorite desserts next to chocolate - lemon. Something so refreshing and lovely about lemon.

kat said...

They look very cake-like...yum!

Elizabeth said...

I just voted for your cupcake!

Anonymous said...

Hey, dear Grace! these look so tasty & apart too! ;) Yummy, I say!

I just voted for your special pineapple cupcake! yeah to you & your tasty wonderful creations! You rock, girl! :)

Faith said...

Just voted for your pinapple inside-out cupcakes, my dear! I just got back from vacation and I'm catching up on my blog reading...these look perfect, dessert for breakfast always works for me! ;)

kimberleyblue said...

Sour cream makes the best muffin texture, I've found.

And a lemon muffin with a crunchy topping? I'm pretty sure these would be some of my favourite muffins, they sound perfect.

Alida said...

Lemon cakes are delicious and this one I must add to my list. Well done! Ciao!

shaz said...

Whoa, that sure makes a lot of muffins! I love the zinginess of lemon, and can definitely get on board with the notion of dessert for breakfast.