This post kicks off LunaCafe’s annual Love Rules! All Chocolate! All Month! celebration.

For the next several weeks, I will post nothing but very special chocolate recipes, each one perfect for sharing with those special people in your life. Click the link above for photos and pointers to all past chocolate posts. And don’t miss the post titled, The Wonderful World of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, which details 17 fabulous cocoas, including my picks for top honors.

Now on to the celebration!

To set the record straight and to put my mind at rest, as near as I can determine after years of looking for the ultimate and absolute distinction between scones and shortcake, there is none.  

Shortcake is a lightly sweetened cream biscuit–which is exactly what a scone is. So if you can make a perfect scone (and YOU CAN after reading The Best Scones in the Entire Universe), you can also make perfect shortcake.

This is good news when it comes to important days of remembrance and acknowledgement, such as Valentine’s Day, which perhaps you forgot until your Honey surprised you with your favorite flowers. But no worries! This shortcake can be presented with full fanfare in under an hour and needs little embellishment beyond whipped cream and sweetened berries (frozen will work) or perhaps caramelized bananas and store-bought caramel sauce.

However, with just a bit more time and effort, you can present your Sweetie with a sensuous taste experience he or she is unlikely to stop raving about until NEXT Valentine’s Day.

This unusual shortcake has all the flavors that the Mayan Goddess of Chocolate, Ixcacao, would approve: chocolate of course, but also coffee, chile, cinnamon, and anise. Paired with a richly suave crèma and a brightly acidic strawberry sauce, it’s flavor-pitch perfect.

Mayan Chocolate Shortcake with White Chocolate Crema, Strawberry Lime Sauce & Strawberry Lime Salsa

Who doesn’t love classic shortcake smothered with fresh berries and whipped cream? We even make an occasional dinner of ONLY shortcake and berries at the height of strawberry and raspberry season each summer.

But in winter, the imported strawberries are far from wonderful and require a bit more finessing to bring out what flavor they do possess. Usually, I pass them by in the grocery store after the local season ends, but Valentine’s Day is the exception. If strawberries could talk, they would say only three words over and over: I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. Thus, they are required for this over the top, spicy chocolate shortcake with its luxurious accompaniment of whipped cream, cream cheese and white chocolate.   

Mayan Chocolate Shortcake (recipe below)
White Chocolate Crèma (recipe below)
Strawberry Lime Sauce (recipe below)
Strawberry Lime Salsa (recipe below)

Garnish
1 cup heavy cream, lightly sweetened and whipped
4-6 whole strawberries, each cut lengthwise 3-4 times without cutting through the stem
thin lime slices, optional

1. Up to 2 days ahead, prepare Strawberry Lime Sauce and White Chocolate Crema, and frig.
2. Up to several hours ahead, prepare Mayan Chocolate Shortcake through Step 10, cover baking sheet lightly with plastic wrap, and frig. Up to 2 hours before serving, complete the recipe. If the shortcake has cooled by the time you are ready to serve it, reheat for a few seconds in the microwave.
3. Just before serving, prepare Strawberry Lime Salsa.
4. To serve, cut each shortcake in half through the center. On the bottom half of each shortcake, spoon a large dollop of White Chocolate Crema, and then cover with the top half of the shortcake. Pour some of the Strawberry Lime Sauce in a thin line (a squirt bottle works well for this) on each serving plate and position filled shortcake on top of each. Put a small dollop of White Chocolate Crema on each shortcake and push a whole strawberry into it, fanning the strawberry slightly in the process. Add Strawberry Lime Salsa to each plate, 2 lime slices if desired, and serve immediately. 

Serves 6-8.

Mayan Chocolate Shortcake   

Tender, moist, not too rich, not too sweet chocolate shortcake on the wild side with a little heat from the chile powder, coffee to accentuate the chocolate, and warm winter spices.

Dry Ingredients
1¾ cups King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour (6¾ ounces)
¼ cup natural, unsweetened cocoa (not alkalized)
½ cup sugar (none for savory scones and 4-6 tablespoons for sweet scones)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder (or Starbuck’s Via Ready Brew Italian Roast Coffee)
1 teaspoon ancho or New Mexico chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt  
¼ teaspoon ground anise
¼ teaspoon cayenne powder

Butter

8 tablespoons very cold, unsalted butter, cut into 16 equal-size piec
1 large, very cold egg  
¾ cup very cold cream

Finishing  
Beaten egg, for brushing on tops prior to baking
Demerara sugar

1. In a mixing bowl, add and then whisk together the flour, sugar (if using), baking powder, baking soda (if using) and salt. Dump out onto a clean work surface.
2. Distribute the butter over the dry ingredients and toss lightly to coat the pieces with flour. Using a large, heavy rolling pin, roll over the mixture to flattened the butter. Using a dough scraper, push the mixture together and then repeat the rolling process. Repeat two more times, scraping off the rolling pin between each process.
3. Scoop the mixture into a mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and frig for at least ½ hour to chill the butter.
4. Meanwhile, in a glass measuring cup with a pouring spout, whisk the egg and then whisk in the liquid. Cover and frig until needed.
5. Remove the bowl from the frig and add the very cold liquid. Use a large, flexible spatula to gently fold the liquid into the developing dough so that the dough becomes uniformly moistened. Do not stir the dough!
6. Turn the dough out onto the work counter and very gently move it around a bit to ensure that all portions are uniformly moistened. Do not knead the dough!
7. If desired (for extra flakiness), after the dough is formed, flatten somewhat and gently make 2 letter folds (as for flakey pastry or croissant dough) in opposite directions. This will help to build flakey layers in the baked scone. 
8. Pat the dough into the desired shape and then cut 8 equal-size scones. If there are scraps, push them together gently, pat into shape, and cut into the desired shape. (To cut heart shapes, first divide the dough into 6 equal-size pieces and then shape each one to accommodate the cutter.)
9. Put the scones onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and either bake or cover with plastic wrap and frig until ready to bake, as much as a day later.
10. Just before baking, brush the tops (but not the sides) of the scones with buttermilk, cream, or beaten egg. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar or other garnish of choice.
11. Ten minutes before baking, set an ovenproof dish filled with ¼ cup water on a rack in the bottom third of the oven. (The steam will enhance the scone’s rise.)
12. Bake at 375° in the upper third of the oven for about 15-16 minutes, depending on scone size, or until the scones are light brown on the bottom and just golden on top. Do not overbake! Overbaking produces dry scones.
13. Remove scones to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before devouring them. Scones are at their absolute perfection within an hour out of the oven.
14. To store, let the scones cool completely, then seal in an airtight Ziploc bag for as long as a day before eating. Otherwise freeze the scones and later reheat in a 350° oven for 5 minutes or in a microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Makes 6-8 shortcakes.

White Chocolate Crèma

Imagine lofty whipped cream blended with tangy cream cheese, and then add melted white chocolate. Heavenly!

2 ounces white chocolate, chopped or pistoles

1 cup cream cheese (8 ounces)
¼ cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream

1. Put the white chocolate in a small glass measuring cup. Using a microwave oven and 15 second bursts of power, melt the white chocolate. Stir with a dry wooden chopstick between power bursts. You won’t be able to tell that the chocolate is melted without trying to stir it periodically. Do not overheat or the chocolate with seize (turn dry and gritty), and you will have to begin again with a new batch. Remove from the oven and let cool somewhat while you proceed with the recipe.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth.
3. Scrape the sides of the bowl and with the mixer on low, slowly add the cream until it is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Scrape the bowl a few times during this process.
4. Increase the mixer speed to medium, and beat just until the cream begins to whip. (Yes, it will whip with the other ingredients.)
5. Scrape the barely warm white chocolate into the mixture and continue beating until the cream is fully whipped. The crèma will be thick.
6. Remove the crèma to a storage container and frig until needed.

Makes 2½ cups.

Strawberry Lime Sauce

This zippy sauce brings out all the sparkling flavor of strawberries at their peak and is wonderful with any number of simple desserts, such as rich vanilla ice cream, tart lemon custard, brown sugar-glazed fresh peaches, and yes, Mayan Chocolate Shortcake. 

1 pound (about 3 cups) fresh strawberries, stemmed (you can use frozen, thawed strawberries in a pinch)
¼ cup sugar 
¼ cup strawberry jam or red currant jelly
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, puree the strawberries and sugar. Reserve.
2. Put the jam or jelly into a saucepan over medium heat and warm just to melt, whisking until smooth. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the melted jam or jelly and lime juice to the strawberries in the processor, and pulse to incorporate.
4. Strain the sauce through a triple mesh strainer into a storage container.  
5. Adjust flavor balance as necessary by adding additional sugar or lime juice (depending on tartness of berries).
6. Chill thoroughly and serve cold.

Makes about 2 cups.

Strawberry Lime Salsa

Strawberries go from ordinary to extraordinary with just the squeeze of a lime.

24 large strawberries, stemmed and sliced (1½  cups sliced)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
4 leaves fresh mint, minced, optional

1. In a mixing bowl, toss the strawberries, lime juice, sugar, and mint if desired.
2. Let macerate for up to ½ hour in the frig, and then serve.

Makes about 1½ cups. 

Resources

• AZCentral: Superb Shortcake in a Few Short Steps
• BakingBites: Grilled Peach Shortcakes with Candied Ginger
• Cake, Crumbs and Cooking: Clotted Cream Shortcake
• Cookin’ Canuck: Chocolate Shortcake with Raspberries, Ice Cream & Fudge Sauce
• Cooking for Engineers: Basic Biscuits
• Culinary Life in Berlin: Cream Scones Versus Shortcake
• Food Network: Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake
• Frontera Grill: Strawberry Tres Leches Shortcake
• Los Angeles Times: A Short Path to Shortcake Nirvana
• Pinch My Salt: It’s Strawberry Time
• SmittenKitchen: Strawberry Shortcake
• The Goddess of Chocolate

There’s More

Check out these additional CHOCOLATE recipes, which are from the first, second, and third (thus far) Love Rules! All Chocolate! All Month! celebrations at LunaCafe:  

Season 3  

• Chocolate Shortcake with White Chocolate Crema, Strawberry Lime Sauce & Strawberry Lime Salsa

Season 2

• Bittersweet Chocolate Orange French Toast for Lovers
• Fried Banana Split with Mexican Chocolate Sauce & Strawberry Lime Salsa
• LunaCafe Otherworldly Silky Fudgy Brownies
• Quintessential Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce
• The Wonderful World of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• White Chocolate, Cardamom & Coconut Beignet

Season 1

• Bittersweet Chocolate & Cabernet Butter Cake
• Bittersweet Chocolate & Montmorency Cherry Morning Love Muffins
• Bittersweet Chocolate & Toasted Walnut Cookies Perfecta Mundo!
• Burnt Sugar & Rosemary Chocolate Tarts
• LunaCafe’s Ultimate Chocolate Pudding
• Luscious White Chocolate & Raspberry Rose Petal Cheesecake
• Mexican Hearts of Fire Cookies

Copyright 2011 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting variations on the corn bread theme, and even more so when leaves turn glorious shades of russet and crimson and nights turn cool. I LOVE corn bread–especially Aunt Elfred’s Corn Bread, which is high, light, and tender, with the requisite depth of cornmeal flavor and  tantalizing aroma.

Whenever I see an interesting corn bread recipe, I don’t bother with the basic formula, as I’m confident that no corn bread formula (and I’ve tested a gazillion) is better than Aunt Elfred’s.

Thus, as I was perusing a stack of cookbooks the other evening and ran into a little gem from The Beerbistro Cookbook, titled Farmhouse Cheddar Biscuits, rather than running to the kitchen to test the recipe, I simply noted these ingredients: buttermilk, cheddar cheese, chipotle chile, and green onion. When I did get around to testing the concept, I added garlic.

The result was predictably wonderful. Even with a full load of cheese, the corn bread is suprisingly light.

Note   Unfortunately, my mini popover pans are in Portland (without me), so I used a mini cheesecake pan instead. A standard muffin pan might have been a better choice.

Chipotle Cheddar Corn Bread

This cornbread is almost a meal, with its generous quantity of cheddar cheese and other savory elements. And although I do not usually serve corn bread with honey, for some reason this corn bread cries out for it. I even found myself wishing for Honey Butter, which is simple enough to whip up if the mood strikes you.

1½ cups King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and warm, not hot (vegetable oil also works well here if you prefer)
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups shredded, aged cheddar (6 ounces)
½ cup minced green onion
1-2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced (use disposable gloves!)
1 clove garlic, peeled, and pressed or minced

Garnish
unsalted butter
warm honey

1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Reserve.
2. In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and cornmeal until thoroughly blended.
3. Add the flour mixture, grated cheese, green onions, chipotle chile, and garlic. Fold gently until just combined. The batter will still be a little lumpy.
4. Pour into a lightly greased 9- by 9-inch square metal baking pan or fill 12-16 indents of a mini popover or muffin pan about three-quarters full each (add an inch or so of water to any empty indents). 
5. Bake at 400°, in the upper third of the oven, for 30-35 minutes for the square baking pan or about 20-22 minutes for the popover or muffin pan. When done, the cornbread will be lightly browned on top and will spring back when touched in the center.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack. This corn bread is best served warm, almost right out of the oven.
7. Cut into squares or remove from the popover or muffin pan and serve warm with butter and honey if desired.

Makes nine, 3-inch squares or 12-16 mini popovers or standard muffins.

Bless your heart if you are actually reading this post rather than running for cover to another food blog. Yes, I know this combination sounds a tad bit unusual, but I assure you it is Pure Genius.  

Lest you think I’m being immodest here, the idea is not mine. The combination was recently featured in Gourmet Traveler, and that’s where I first encountered it.

On page 136 of the June 2010 issue, there’s a recipe for Chocolate and Beetroot Cake–an elegant whipped cream and whipped egg white lightened bittersweet chocolate sponge cake with almond meal subbing for flour. I have yet to actually bake this cake but will definitely give it a go while fresh beets are still in plentiful supply in the Northwest.

You can imagine my surprise and consternation when after a little research on the web, I discovered that a zillion cooks have already expounded on this combination to the world. I give you the most noteworthy of these at the end of this post.

Meanwhile, summer weather has finally hit Seattle and the temperature is rising in the OtherWorldly Kitchen. Plus the garden and a stack of great books are calling. Now is the season for quick and easy.

So I decided to focus my chocolate beet experimentation on a simple, but exceptional tea loaf. And upon perfecting that, I explored several extended flavor partnerships. After several rounds of testing, I arrived at three very distinct chocolate beet tea loaves, each of which is fit for the angels. Check out the above photos for the three flavor pairings.

This tea loaf is just the ticket when you have only a few minutes to throw something wonderful together. The beets are used raw, which saves you the typical roasting or boiling time. You will not taste the beets, but they do add a subtle spiciness that is very appealing, plus they virtually ensure a tender, moist loaf for 2-3 days.  Did I mention the deep red-brown color? Gorgeous!

Heavenly Chocolate Beet Tea Loaf with 3 Variations

I like this lovely tea bread so much (as much for its ease as for its excellent flavor, texture, and keeping quality), that I couldn’t resist developing a few variations. At this moment, I am devouring the ginger and white pepper variation with its spicy heat playing against a backdrop of moist, almost fruity (the beets) dark chocolate. What a delicious flavor pairing!

This loaf is modestly sweet, which makes it perfect for midday tea. However, if desired, you can add up to ½ cup additional sugar (which should be split evenly between brown and white sugar) without deleterious effects.

vegetable spray, to coat the pan
flour, to coat the pan

1 cup King Arthur all-purpose flour (4.5 ounces)
½ cup high quality, unsweetened cocoa powder (1.2 ounces) (tested with Scharffenberger cocoa)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ cup unsalted butter, melted (vegetable oil works too, but the flavor of the bread is not nearly so good as with butter)
½ cup sugar
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

1½ loosely packed cups very finely grated raw, peeled red beet (4.5 ounces shredded; 1 medium-large beet)

1. Set an oven rack in the middle of the oven with plenty of room above it and preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Coat an 8½- by 4½-inch (5-6 cup capacity) loaf pan with vegetable spray, and then a light layer of flour, tapping out any excess flour that does not cling. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In another large mixing bowl, using a large whisk, whisk together the butter or oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes.
5. Stir the grated beet into the butter mixture.  
6. Add the flour mixture to the butter-beet mixture and with a large spatula, combine gently but well. No flour should remain visible in the batter.
7. Spoon the batter immediately into the prepared pan, and set in the center of a preheated 350° oven.
8. Bake for about 38-40 minutes. If the loaf is pulling away from the edges of the pan, immediately pull it from the oven. Hopefully you will catch it before this point. Over baking this bread will make it dry.

Makes one 8½- by 4½-inch loaf.

Variations

Heavenly Chocolate, Orange, Chile, & Beet Tea Loaf

Oranges and chocolate are one of my favorite chocolate pairings. Reddish-brown, slightly sweet guajillo chile adds spicy heat to the pairing, without overpowering the loaf. If you have whole chiles, split, seed, and toast one lightly in a hot pan. Remove from the pan, let cool, and then pulverize in a spice grinder or mortar with pestle. That lovely toasted flavor is excellent even in a dessert.

all ingredients from the basic recipe
finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
½ teaspoon ground chile guajillo

• At Step 5 of the basic recipe, stir in the orange zest and chile powder.

Heavily Chocolate, Rosemary, Black Pepper, & Beet Tea Loaf

I told you all about my first encounter with chocolate and fresh rosemary in the post titled, Burnt Sugar & Rosemary Chocolate Tarts. I had wandered into Sahagun Chocolates in Portland, Oregon one cold February afternoon and was immediately drawn to a chocolate and fresh rosemary truffle. That first bite was a revelation! I’ve never looked back.

all ingredients from the basic recipe
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• At Step 5 of the basic recipe, stir in the rosemary and black pepper.

Heavily Chocolate, Fresh Ginger, White Pepper, & Beet Tea Loaf

When you taste this loaf hot, right out of the oven, the white pepper flavor dominates. Thus, you may feel that the balance of flavors is not pitch perfect. Taste again after the loaf has cooled, however, and the flavors should be in harmonious balance.

This loaf is meant to be spicy-hot, but you can of course cut the white pepper measurement in half, or eliminate it altogether, if you don’t want the heat.

Note   Be sure to freshly grind the white pepper. Ground white pepper that has been hanging around for awhile often has a musty, unpleasant taste.

all ingredients from the basic recipe
2 tablespoons peeled, finely grated fresh ginger (1 ounce prepared)
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or less if you don’t want the heat)
½ teaspoon ground cardamom

• At Step 5 of the basic recipe, stir in the ginger, white pepper, and cardamom.

More Chocolate & Beet Inspiration

Cannelle et Vanille
Gluten Free Chocolate and Roasted Beet Pudding Cakes

Food Mayhem
Beet Chocolate Cupcakes

La Tartine Gourmande
D is for Dark Chocolate and Beet Brownies

Martha Stewart
Chocolate-Beet Cakes with Candied Beets and Rose Petals

Plantea
Chocolate Beet Brownies: They Can’t be Beat

Pinch My Salt
Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins

Straight from the Farm
Beet Cake

The Kitchn
Velvety Beet and Cocoa Cake

The Nibble
Chocolate Almond Beet Torte

When Harry Met Salad
Chocolate Beet Cake

One of these fine days I will get around to posting my thoughts about and basic formula for The Perfect Muffin. If you have my cookbook, Pacific Northwest Palate: Four Seasons of Great Cooking, the discussion is on page 249. But for now, I just want to get this wonderful new muffin recipe to you.

If you are following @LunaCafe on Twitter, you know that the OtherWorldly Kitchen is overflowing with rhubarb. It’s everywhere! Open frig one and it falls out on you. Open frig two and you get the same. Perhaps I should start freezing some of this bounty, eh?

If you are keen on rhubarb too, you might want to check out our Rhubarb Primer, which includes a list of all the rhubarb recipes I have developed thus far. I love watching this list grow each spring and early summer. So far this year, I posted Apple Cider-Brined Tenderloin of Pork with Rhubarb Deglazing Sauce and Spring Rhubarb & Apple Crisp with Toasted Hazelnut Streusel.

However, I also developed recipes for Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Syrup & Basil Syrup, Rhubarb Margarita with Rhubarb-Infused Silver Tequila, Rhubarb Lemon-Lime Cooler, Rhubarb Strawberry Sorbet with Candied Orange Zest, Rhubarb Ginger Sauce, Rhubarb, Ginger, & Chile Chutney, and Rhubarb & Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake. I’m afraid rhubarb season will be over before I have time to post all of these.

But I couldn’t move on to strawberries and blueberries without at least sharing these fabulous muffins with you. MauiJim says they are the best he has ever eaten. I wish I could have captured an audio clip of his little murmurings as he was eating the first one.

We devoured the entire batch over a few days. And the remarkable thing was that they were as good on day three (with a 20-second refresh in the microwave) as on day one. That just isn’t typical of muffins, as you surely know.

Rhubarb Cardamom Lime Muffins

Muffins don’t get any better than this. The texture is tender and open, with sweet/tart rhubarb goodness throughout. Plus, there is just something magical about the combination of cardamom, lime, and rhubarb.

To balance the tart bursts of rhubarb on the palate, the caramelized streusel topping is a must. Don’t even think about leaving it out.

Rhubarb Mixture
1½ cups ½-inch diced rhubarb (about 7 ounces, 1 medium-size, trimmed rhubarb stalk)
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
finely grated zest of 1 large lime

Streusel Topping
¾ cup King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 32 pieces

Muffin Batter
2 cups King Arthurs unbleached, all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
8 tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly
2/3 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
1/3 cup milk

1. To make the rhubarb mixture, in a mixing bowl, combine the rhubarb, sugar, cardamom, cloves and lime zest. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let macerate for at least 30 minutes. Mixture should appear very juicy when maceration is complete.
2. To make the streusel topping, in a small mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter until mixture is evenly crumbly. (Alternatively, you can beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, and then quickly mix in the remaining ingredients.) Reserve for a moment.
3. To make the muffin batter, in a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and then add sugar. Whisk thoroughly to distribute the chemical leaveners. Reserve for a moment.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg briefly, and then whisk in the melted butter, Greek yogurt, and milk.
5. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir quickly and gently with a large, flexible rubber spatula just to evenly moisten. The batter should still be lumpy.
6. Lightly spray a traditional 12-unit muffin or mini popover pan with vegetable spray.
7. Divide the batter among the cups, letting the batter mound naturally. The cups should be nearly full.
8. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of each muffin and then press it down lightly into the batter (so that it doesn’t fall off during baking). You may have a small amount of streusel topping left over. You can bake it separately and use as in ice cream topping if you wish.
9. Bake immediately at 400° for about 20-25 minutes. Internal temperature of the muffins will register 190º when fully baked.

Makes 12 regular-size muffins.