ORANGE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

"The orange flavor in these delicate, cakey and generously blueberried muffins is in the background, like a play's prompter - present, but only to encourage the performance of the star. In this case, the blueberries. For a little extra sparkle, you can sprinkle the tops of the muffins with granulated sugar before sliding them into the oven; for a lot of extra sparkle, sprinkle them with decorating sugar, the coarse sugar that is often used to decorate Christmas cookies."

Grated zest and juice of 1 medium orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries - fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)
Decorating sugar for topping (optional)

Center a rack in the oven and heat to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and butter.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange is strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that's just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before removing each muffin from its mold.

Makes 12 servings
Adapted from source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan