Muffins with Almonds and Dry Grapes

Friday, May 07, 2010 -

This week I made muffins with "Crema de Orujo". Orujo is a liquor obtained from the distillation of the pomace (solid remains left after pressing) of the grape. It is a popular beverage in the northwest part of Spain, especially in Galicia. Orujo cream is a sweet liquor, of light colour and about 15%-20% of alcohol. I mixed the following: first dry ingredients in a large bowl (2 cups of white all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 of almonds, 1/4 cup of dry grapes, 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and a bit of salt (1/4 teaspoon). In another bowl, I beat 2 eggs, then added 2 tablespoons of orujo liquor, 3/4 of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and combined egg mixture well. Finally, I mixed all the ingredients, adding a bit of water until moistened. There was enough batter for 7 to 8 muffins. As usual, muffins were baked in preheated oven for about 35 minutes. The muffins were not too sweet, as I put just 1/4 cup of sugar. The taste was similar to sweet bread, or perhaps to German "rosinen Brötchen".

Read more about other muffin recipes .