Spiced orange muffins, but not always orange

So much citrus, so little time while it’s fresh and in season. My Washington navel is loaded, but the produce bins are, too – with Cara Cara oranges and clementines and blood oranges. I try all of them each year, but occasionally the home supply gets to be an overload. Time to get out the juicer or bake something delicious.

I did both this week, choosing an orange cardamom muffin recipe to try. But I also wondered what they would be like if I used blood orange zest and juice. Well, the muffin recipe looked easy to divide, so I tried a side-by-side test: Half the batch got navel orange juice and zest, and the other got the gorgeous red juice and darker zest.

Scientists learn something even from a failed experiment, and I was no different. The upshot: The brilliant raspberry-red of the blood orange juice disappeared completely in baking, and the resulting muffin was an odd color,  a blue tone that reminded me of a muffin I had made with fresh blueberries. Turns out the juice’s red-causing anthocyanin pigments (which also occur in raspberries) react with the baking soda and change color.

The navel orange muffins, meanwhile, stayed a beautiful orange. So if you want to show off your citrus, bake the navel orange muffins, and serve a glass of blood orange juice alongside. The recipe below is a full batch of the navel orange version.

A note on the spice: The cardamom almost disappears into this muffin,  giving it additional flavor without overtaking the citrus. Cinnamon also could be used, but I might try some ground cloves next time for half the spice.

Orange spiced muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup milk (plain yogurt also would work)

Grated zest of 1 orange (½ tablespoon or more)

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon

 Crunchy or sparkling sugar, for topping, optional

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by spraying with oil or lining with cupcake papers.

 In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, milk, zest and orange juice.

 In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom. Stir in the wet mixture just until the flour is incorporated.

 Fill the muffin cups evenly. Top each with crunchy sugar, if desired.

 Bake 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Best served warm.