Double up on cherries in these tender muffins

I had occasion this past week to drive east on Highway 26 from Stockton, through the town of Linden. Cherry orchards line many sections of the road, and the trees right now are heavily bejeweled with red fruit. Yes, I had to make something this week with cherries.

The recipe here is my adaptation of a longtime favorite by Mollie Katzen, appearing in her cookbook "Sunlight Cafe," which I was given in 2002. She has several recipes that include ricotta. The muffin recipe page in my copy is covered with scrawled notes, as I played with the basic ingredients. (My wildest variation to date used currants soaked in creme de cassis.)

I usually make the muffins with dried cherries, but of course wanted to use chopped fresh ones this time. But I'm often disappointed by the diluted flavor of baked cherries, and was determined to boost it. That's why chopped dried cherries are included, plumped a bit in the milk that is part of the recipe.

I was out of buttermilk, which I prefer, but milk plus lemon juice works just as well in this recipe, which already calls for lemon juice and lemon zest. (Do remember to zest the lemon before juicing it.)

My adaptations include more ricotta and less milk (or buttermilk) than Katzen calls for, and the minimum amount of sugar. Don't skimp on the zest or the vanilla -- they give the muffin depth.

A note on the ricotta: Look for the whole-milk kind that has just 4 ingredients. Other types, including that made with "part skim" milk, include gummy stabilizers. 

Want to turn this cute muffin into dessert? Toss in some mini chocolate chips, which play well with cherries.

The recipe makes a bit too much batter for 12 muffins, so I put the rest in a mini muffin pan, but if you prefer, make four more regular-size ones in a second pan.

Double-cherry ricotta muffins

Makes 12 regular and 8 small, or 16 regular muffins

Ingredients:

A generous 1/2 pound of fresh red cherries (about 24) before pitting

2 tablespoons chopped dried cherries

3/4 cup buttermilk OR enough lowfat milk plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice to make 3/4 cup liquid total

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1-1/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter OR neutral vegetable oil

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tin(s) by lightly greasing the cups with nonstick spray.

De-stem, pit and roughly chop the fresh cherries to make about 1-1/2 cups total. Set aside.

Put the buttermilk (or the milk plus lemon juice) in a 2-cup glass measuring cup or similar-size bowl. Stir in the dried cherries, and set aside (let the milk sour).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, lemon zest and sugar.

In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and the buttermilk (or soured milk) along with the dried cherries that have been soaking. One at a time, beat in the eggs until well combined. Stir in the lemon juice and the vanilla.

Pour the ricotta mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture, add the melted butter or oil, and with a spatula stir the batter together until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Now gently stir in the chopped fresh cherries.

Fill the muffin cups evenly; the regular size cups can be filled to the top, but there will still likely be more batter after 12 are filled. Either use a second regular tin or a mini muffin tin,  greased, for the remaining batter. After all the batter is distributed, put 1 to 2 tablespoons of water in the bottom of any empty cups to keep the pan from warping.

Bake the regular size muffins 25 to 30 minutes, until light brown on top. The mini muffins will take about 20 minutes.

Cool the muffins for about 10 minutes before removing from pans. I find the flavor is best when the muffins are served at room temperature.