whims may take me...clementine muffins

on a whim, on a dark snowy night, my sister and I felt the need to bake something sweet. We had the ingredients for a recipe I had recently pinned on Pinterest, from my new muse: The Novice Chef. Jessica had posted this amazing recipe alongside her wonderful pictures, and a particular one caught my eye.

(photo courtesy of The Novice Chef blog)

My mind started going, and I thought it looked as if Jessica had baked those darling muffins INSIDE the clementine peel.

gasp. 

What a great idea!!

I pinned that recipe straightaway, with the note "could I bake them inside the peel?" and promptly my pin was copied by 47 others. 

Anyway, we were presented the opportunity to try out the theory tonight, and I must say it was a great success!!

One of the best features of a clementine is its easily peeled skin. We cut these in half, and just carefully pulled out the soft segments in one. These were lovely, larger clementines from Morocco, purchased at our local farmer's market. 

 Here you can see the peel formed to the pan, with a flat bottom and curved sides. I peeled one away to inspect (ie. taste!) the difference in texture, and was pleased to find out that the muffin baked within the peel was delicate and soft, delicious, not overly clementine-y from the oils in the skin. It peeled nicely, too, without losing too much of the flesh of the muffin.

I continued with the recipe, and glazed and "blinged" the muffins out with a citrus glaze and zested sugar, and with all that flavor going on, you might think they would be overboard. They are not. They couldn't be any more delightful, and the peel just makes you feel ever so clever. 

Try it!