This week's entry for Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Kayte (Thanks Kayte!) of Grandma's Kitchen Table: Allspice Crumb Muffins. I don't do a lot of baking with allspice as the main flavor note - usually it's just one component in a blend of spices - so I actually went all-out and bought a little packet of fresh allspice instead of using the 100-year-old bottle that's been languishing in the back of my kitchen cupboard gathering dust. I had to move the 100-year-old mace to get to that one.
These muffins were pretty good - John and the girls liked them, and I didn't have the sliding streusel problem some other bakers seemed to have. I'm not sure why, because I didn't press the crumbs down into the batter or anything; what I did do was load each one up with so much crummage (crumbage? That seems wrong...) it seemed like overkill, but I figured there had to be a reason there was so much of it and I suspect the sheer weight of it kept it in place. I followed the recipe just as written and included the optional grated lemon rind because I'm always all about the grated lemon rind. The crumb topping was the best part - isn't it always? - and I had just about decided that I probably wouldn't make these twice when I tasted one the day after baking them...it was actually a little better and it was still moist and delish. Maybe I'll try these again with cinnamon or a blend of spices. Or maybe I'll bust out the allspice again. It did feel very much like fall was in the air....
