Kids Dish

I realized last week as I posted the Vegetarian Blog Carnival that I’d completely forgotten about Mondays. Z is a few weeks behind, but since there’s not much going on in terms of Z ingredients you’ll forgive me I’m sure. I’ve posted about zucchini more times than I can count this summer so I’ll skip it this week and turn to zest, the brightly colored, outermost peel of citrus fruit. Any recipe that calls for citrus juice, whether it be lime, lemon, or orange, can often be improved with the addition of just a tiny bit of zest. Getting away from the kids part of Kids Dish for a moment, my lime simple syrup*, used in margaritas and classic, shaken lime daiquiris, gets most of it’s superb flavor from the zest of one lime.

To get zest from citrus without taking any of the pith with it you can use a citrus zester, vegetable peeler, or fine grater. I love my Microplane grater, but before I bought it I just used the smallest side of my box grater.

Here’s a great seasonal recipe the kids will love. The recipe is adapted from Allrecipes.com. I added more spice, substituted applesauce for oil and subbed in one cup of whole wheat flour.

Mini Pumpkin Muffins with Orange Drizzle

* 1 (15 ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin or about 2 cups fresh (or frozen) pumpkin puree
* 2 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1 cup dark brown sugar
* 1/2 cup applesauce
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Orange Drizzle:
* 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
* 4 teaspoons orange juice

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 36 mini-muffin cups with vegetable cooking spray.
2. Bring pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and cloves to a simmer in a medium saucepan until puree thickens enough to start sticking to pan bottom, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn hot puree into a bowl. Whisk in brown sugar and applesauce, then slowly beat in eggs.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; whisk into pumpkin mixture until just combined.
4. Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Let stand a few minutes, then transfer mini-muffins to a wire rack to cool.

For drizzle

1. Sift the confectioners sugar onto a plate and discard any lumps that remain.
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk together sugar, orange juice and zest.
3. Drizzle over warm (not hot!) muffins.

*Since you’re all dying for the recipe, the simple syrup calls for 2 cups sugar dissolved in one cup boiling water. Add the juice of 12 limes and the zest of one lime. It’s delicious in a variety of adults only drinks.

zest, Easy as A-B-C Monday, citrus fruits, recipes, pumpkin muffins with orange drizzle, mini muffins, fall recipe