This first official weekend of autumn was not a busy one for me as Big Bear’s most highly-rated hiking guide. Unfortunately for our mountain community, the Line Fire is still burning basically out of control at well over 40,000 acres. For our local businesses, the smoky air may be choking us and the slowdown in tourism has us gasping for work. Any work. Even if that work is just baking peach muffins.
And that is how I ended up doing way more catering this last week than I did hiking tours. The Hungry Mountaineer, she hikes, she bakes, she Jeeps! Anything to make a living in California where it’s getting harder and harder every to survive. Sometimes I wonder why anyone lives in this trash-covered hell-hole of a state but then I go for a walk in a deserted mountain forest with my favorite trail dog. I discover some zen, away from other humans. Nature helps me remember that damn, this is a pretty area to dwell in every fall.
To hike? Or to bake peach muffins?
With the national forests being closed there is basically only one place I can legally go take a hike in Big Bear Lake. This nature area is owned by a land trust so it’s kind of a loophole. Believe me, I have been meandering through the woods there every day this week. Because if I don’t go for a hike I am so damn tempted to turn my oven on and do some baking. All summer long it’s been way too hot to turn on the oven. Cooler autumn days mean I could do a little baking if I wanted to. Or possibly have a delicious Elk Chili with Adobe Peppers simmering on the stovetop all afternoon.
With no hiking tours being booked I have been doing a little catering for different groups and that means baking. Lots of baking. And sometimes I fuck everything up. Like yesterday when I created a major SNAFU the first time I attempted to bake these delicious Peach Cobbler Muffins.
First of all, these were the best Peach Cardamom Muffins ever. And then I accidentally made a Peach Cardamom Surprise. My dessert-loving mind was blown!
My boyfriend may say that the most surprising part is that he still puts up with my shenanigans, such as almost burning the house down on a Friday afternoon. I don’t know how I had such a brain fart and confused baking soda for baking powder. Dyslexia wins again, damn you.
Meanwhile, in hurricane central, Fort Myers Florida, my good friends just lost their entire home (For the second time in two years, WTAF?) and here I am crying over some peach muffins. So I sucked it up and threw the extremely tragic-looking but still delicious-tasting peach muffin mess over some vanilla ice cream. OMG. Did I create something fantastic? When I accidently added baking soda instead the muffins completely boiled over and did not look like muffins at all. But they cooled and dried almost to a crispy peach and cardamom toffee concoction.
But I seriously do not recommend accidentally or not accidentally adding baking soda to this. The mess and smoke in my house and oven was tremendous. Do you have a plethora of homegrown organic peaches this fall? This is a fantastic use of a peach or two.
Peach Cardamom Muffin Dough
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white organic sugar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
To start the peach muffins, cream the butter and the sugars. Add in the vanilla and egg yolks. Mix in the dry ingredients and set this dough aside.
Peach compote
1/4 cup chopped up peaches
1 teaspoon salted butter
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
In a saucepan add the butter and peaches. Bring to a low simmer. Mix in the brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom just until the peaches are soft and the brown sugar is melted in. Set aside to cool while you create the peach muffin dough.
Cookie Crumble Layer
3 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
Mix all three ingredients. Set aside.
When you are ready to assemble your peach muffins, fold the peach mixture gently into your muffin dough. Dollop the mixed dough into the muffin tins. Layer some of the cookie crumb layer on top of each muffin. Bake at 350 for twenty-five minutes. Serve these peach muffins with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you feel like being really decadent.