A Big news with Margarita and Eggnog Muffins

A very happy new year to all my dear readers, hope 2012 is treating you well.  May it bring along with it loads of happiness, success and new beginnings too

I am starting the year with a desire to do something big, with a news which I am sharing with you of a humble starting which I some day hope will make it big too… So the news may be a little old to most now but was so busy in general that I realized I have that I missed posting the news on the blog that’s the starting point of it all, the blog that made me think that yes a career outside IT is indeed may be possible for me, that there is something beyond binary numbers that I can do well…  Yes we are talking about Sin-A-Mon going commercial with its offerings…

Well truly speaking it was the belief of my friends which made me take the first step and ofcourse the deal at chaipatty… when Chirag and me spoke about supplying the baked goodies to him, I wasn’t really sure which way it will go but the feedback and the acceptance there and the demand for more and more just made me a happy person, the confidence shot up and so did the desire to achieve more. I started the design for the website and opened it up for orders and did they start pouring in, more than I thought they will.. In about 2 months, I have delivered many orders which includes a almost 300 piece plum cake order for Wipro.

Any success is sweet and this to indeed is sweet success, though this is just a beginning and there is a long way to go before I sleep. So friends wish me luck and please do spread the word about Sin-A-Mon, for which I have lots of things in plan.. seasonal special flavours, baking workshops and more which I will keep announcing as and when it goes.

This is the website, do see and let me know the feedback too… http://sinamon.in , also if you haven’t liked the Sin-A-Mon FB page yet please do – http://facebook.com/sinamontales

And a celebration is never complete without some sweets and a toast and today I am bringing to you both a Margarita and some yummy egg nog muffins that we made for Xmas this year…

what I used

• 20 ml Cointreau
• 40 ml Tequila
• 10 ml lime juice
• some crushed ice if you like your drink chilled

How I made it

shake shake in a cocktail shaker and pour with sieve leaving behind the ice… cheers… to Sin-A-Mon 🙂

Now that we are done with the toast lets talk about something sweet, shall we… and with winters around (atleast in some part of the country, here in Bangalore sadly it already feels like summer sigh) eggnog muffins are the ideal way to start your day.  Perfect for breakfast or perfect for evening with tea in the evening… actually perfect for just about anytime…

when A of bakers street mailed me just before Xmas saying we’ll be making Eggnog muffins for Xmas, I made them the day she sent me I think however I was so busy with work that I just couldn’t get around posting it before the Monday post went up

I absolutely love eggnog as a drink too but somehow raw egg worries me a lot specially because I know Ojas is going to have it with us too though I still make it once every season atleast and try and have it without showing it to Ojas (also it has loads of rum to be give to child ;P) but these muffins seemed like a perfect solution to express my love for Eggnog 😀

The recipe of the eggnog I make is very similar to this one  only I use rum instead of brandy since I am not too found of brandy… the bourbon remains if I have or its gets replaced by any good whisky I have 🙂

for the muffin recipe I just followed the same recipe just added dried black currants to the crumble top (copying it here for easier access)

EggNog Muffins

Source: From King Arthur Flour

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Batter
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon eggnog flavor or 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) eggnog or half and half
• Topping
• 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
• 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon eggnog flavor, optional
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till smooth. Add the eggs, beating for several minutes and scraping the bowl, till the mixture is smooth and light colored. Beat in the baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and eggnog flavor or vanilla.
3. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the eggnog or half and half, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups.
4. Stir together all of the topping ingredients JUST till crumbly. Stir gently, and don’t overmix; you don’t want to turn this crumbly topping into a solid mass. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.
5. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature.

and wishing you all a very happy new year