Ever notice how some things just go together: peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, maple syrup and waffles, cheese and wine, chocolate and champagne?
Recently I discovered another unbeatable combination that fulfills their culinary destiny: Orange Spiced Ginger Coffee & Mini Cranberry Orange Muffins. Perfect for serving at your home or inn, this match is so extraordinarily delicious, I cannot imagine serving either alone.
Drawn to a recipe I found for Hot Ginger Coffee (as featured in the Best of Country Breakfast & Brunch), I played with the ingredients and came up with a mix, that in my opinion, is more aptly entitled Orange Spiced Ginger Coffee, and is ideal for serving on a cold winter’s day.
While I enjoyed this coffee’s aroma and unique & comforting flavor (think hot, spiced tea in coffee form), I immediately recognized that this new creation needed a complementary pairing to reach its full potential. Cranberry Orange Muffins immediately came to mind.
Feeling the orange connection (and happy to indulge my cranberry craving), I also wanted a recipe that:
- I had all the ingredients for on hand, and
- Was sure to work in my new (but dusty and lonely) mini-muffin pan…the one I just had to have (and purchased) in June, but had yet to use.
Since necessity is the mother of all invention, I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks, The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham (circa 1987), and discovered a made-for-this-moment recipe to pair with my Orange Spiced Ginger Coffee. The fact that it was also designed to bake in a mini-muffin pan was pure culinary kismet. Believe me when I tell you I do not normally get that lucky.
Tweaking Ms. Cunningham’s recipe ever so slightly, I am pleased to say these muffins are beyond reproach. Hands down the finest Cranberry Orange Muffins I have ever tasted (or made for that matter), the only thing more appealing than their innate texture and taste, was their texture and taste when paired with the Orange Spiced Ginger Coffee.
Both complementary and contrasting, these muffins and coffee simply bring out the best in each other, as all great pairings should. They are true soul mates in the culinary universe.
Enjoy!
Orange Spiced Ginger Coffee
(recipe adapted from Best of Country Breakfast & Brunch, 2007)
- 4+ tablespoons fresh ground coffee (not instant)
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
- 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 8 cups cold water
Combine ground coffee, orange zest, chopped ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg; pour into a coffee filter. Add fresh water and brew according to manufacturer’s directions. Pour into coffee cups (mugs); serve with cinnamon sticks if desired.
Note – You may tweak the ingredients above in any proportion desired to accentuate (or tone down) any (or all) of these flavors to your liking. Feel free to make your coffee stronger if desired.
Yield: approximately 8 servings.
Mini Cranberry Orange Muffins
(recipe adapted from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham, circa 1987)
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1/3 cup sweet orange marmalade
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cranberries, ranging from fine to medium coarseness
Cinnamon Sugar Topping – Optional
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F for baking.
Assembly
In a small to medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; blending well. In another, larger mixing bowl blend sugar, egg, buttermilk, melted butter, marmalade and cranberries until thoroughly combined. Add the combined dry ingredients and beat only until just blended.
Coat mini-muffin pan (with a top diameter of 1 & 3/4 inches) with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon the batter into prepared tins, filling each cup almost to the top. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Watch closely, do not over bake. Remove when done.
If optional Cinnamon Sugar Topping is desired, blend sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish until combined. As soon as the muffins are done, immediately remove them from the pan and roll them gently (up to 4 or 5 at a time) in the sugar mixture.
Transfer muffins to a wire rack until ready to serve. Once muffins are completely cool, wrap airtight and freeze any you won’t use immediately. You many double this recipe as needed.
Yield: approximately 2+ dozen mini muffins.
Thank you for visiting Inn Cuisine! Be sure to check out the newly remodeled Recipe Index and subscribe to Inn Cuisine's free RSS feed (also available via email) so you never miss a recipe. Need more ways to stay connected? Follow Inn Cuisine on Facebook & Twitter!
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my – these look like perfect soul mates!
Great idea Sandie! And I love the styling, it looks like it’s from the pages of a food magazine!
Orange, cranberry and ginger would make a perfect marriage of flavours Sandie. Wouldn’t I just love to be sharing this with a few special people right now.
I will be happy to sample and try the combo, it sounds absolutely delicious!
How wonderful! What a nice wintery breakfast
Cranberry and orange is one of those combinations that just screams winter, even though there’s not an orange grove within hailing distance of this part of Rhode Island! But clementines are just starting to hit the markets, and cranberries are from my part of the world, and it just seems natural to combine the two. And I love mini muffins. Any kind of mini muffins.
Hmm, sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
your criteria for picking this recipe is pretty much my permanent criteria. i love mini muffins, and i like to use up things in my cabinets.
Darius – They are—these muffins were made (literally & figuratively) to go with this coffee!
Lorraine – Thank you, especially for commenting on the styling. That’s something I’ve been striving to improve and I love experimenting! In my mind, the best food shots always convey a story—a glimpse of a moment, a time, a place, a mood, a memory, a possibility, etc. If I can begin to capture that sense of place, being and emotion and people notice, then hopefully my talents are improving!
Val – Fortunately I was able to share these muffins and coffee with a few special people, and I was grateful to do so! (Sharing is the one thing that makes cooking and baking even more enjoyable, don’t you think? It’s so nice of you to touch on that!)
Noble Pig – A happy sampler…I love that!
RecipeGirl – Exactly. Nothing says, “Enjoy winter!” like a seasonal breakfast.
Lydia – Mini muffins rock—they’re such fun and I just adore their bite-sized appeal. Perhaps the ideal place to live would be somewhere where oranges and cranberries grow side by side in harmony. Walk out your door and get the best of both flavors! Ah, a girl can dream, can’t she?
Coffee Machines – Thank you! Hope you enjoy them!
Grace – No kidding. There’s definitely an art to cooking with what’s already on hand in your pantry and fridge. Embracing that art would mean fewer unplanned trips to the grocery!
Interesting — It’s like gingerbread in a mug.