Update and non-bread: Peach Buttermilk muffins

I know it's been awhile since I have done much on here, things have been crazy, I'm moving homes soon, and switching jobs, it's all been so hectic.

This post does relate to bread, I promise, getting there.

I recently got a job as one of the bakers at a small bakery that bakes and sells bagels and morning pastries to local cafes.  This is my first job in the baking industry and I'm very happy to be working in such a small shop, where I'm looked to for say in recipes and product formulas.

The recipe of this post is reflective of my time at the bakery so far: at home, I was never able to duplicate that bakery-style muffin, you know, the type that looks like an overgrown boulte mushroom, with the top bigger than the base, coming to a nice crowned point.  

Home recipes invariably tell you to quickly combine ingredients, fill tins 2/3 to 3/4 full, then bake as soon as humanly possible. For me this was frustrating, as it always ended up with stumpy muffin with no spill over, looking nothing like a muffin you'd buy in a cafe.

The first time I watched muffins being made in the bakery, I had my answers, and so I figure that I would share not only my favorite base muffin recipe, but a few tips on how to make them turn out like the ones you see in cafes.

Buttermilk Muffin Base recipe (makes 12 standard size muffins):

• 200g Butter (room temp)
• 180g Sugar
• 150g Egg (3 Large)
• 330g AP Flour
• 3.4g Baking Powder
• 2.3g Baking Soda
• 2.6g Salt
• 2.0g Flavor Extract (Vanilla or Almond)
• 220g Buttermilk

Method:

1. Combine Flour, baking soda/powder and salt into a bowl, sift.
2. Cream butter and sugar in separate large bowl until fluffy.
3. Add eggs to butter/sugar mix and beat until combined.
4. Alternate adding Buttermilk and flour mixture in three stages, continue until there is no flour clumps.
5. Move batter into lidded container and place in fridge for at least 8 hours
6. Stir in any additions, scoop into well greased/floured muffin pan
7. Top with desired topping (we use sanding sugar or sugar in the raw)
8. Bake in preheated 350F oven until a testing toothpick comes out clean (20 mins, give or take, depends on the oven)

The shown muffins used almond as the extract, and included a pinch of mace in the batter.  Fruit stir-in was 100g diced peaches. One of the muffins displays a strudel topping.

Tips:

• Cream sugar and butter very well
• Chilled batter makes shaping the pre-baked muffins easier, and helps them hold shape.
• Shape muffins with a domed top at least a half inch to an inch above surface of the tin. In the bakeshop we use an ice-cream scoop style 4oz portioner
• We make one batter in the bakeshop, stirring in all fruits/spices as we need them just before baking.
• Batter keeps in fridge for up to 3 days.