The history of muffins

Lemon-Raspberry muffin

Every muffin lover knows the muffin was originated in England to be served at tea time. English muffin history dates all the way back to the 10th and 11th centuries in Wales. Early English muffins were cooked in muffin rings which were hooplike and placed directly on a stove or the bottom of a skillet. Muffin recipes first began to appear in print in the mid 18th century and quickly caught on. By the 19th century muffin men walked the streets of England at tea time to sell there muffins. They wore trays of English muffins on there heads and rang there bells to call customers to there wares.

Although the muffin is originated in England, the muffin as we know it today has been developed in the USA, after pearlash was discovered. Pearlash is a refined form of potash, and it produces carbon dioxide gas in dough. Baking powder was not developed commercially until 1857. In 'American Cookery' (1796 - the first American cook book) Amelia Simmons published recipes using pearlash and it was than that some 8,000 tons was exported to Europe.

There is a variety of muffin recipes available: Sweet, Savory, Whole wheat, Flour. 

I personally like the fruit muffins and have been experimenting with different crumble toppings. 

Blueberry muffin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My experience is that a crumble with unsalted butter and light brown cane sugar works best. The butter needs to be cold and crumbled real fine to prevent the crumble from sinking to the bottom.

French toast is eaten all over the world!!

French toast is eaten all over the world and cooked in different varieties. In the US French toast might be a fancy breakfast dish, in the Netherlands it is made from stale bread leftovers. A great way to assure bread doesn't have to be thrown out.

The bread is mixed with eggs, milk and a mix of sugar and cinnamon, after which it is fried in butter to become a "Wentelteefje". The etymology is unclear but it is believed to refer to the Dutch verb wentelen = "to turn over".

Wentelteefje

A little bit of the history according to Wikipedia

The earliest official mention of French toast is in the Apicius, a collection of Latin recipes dating back to the 4th or 5th century. The Brothers Grimm mention it as Arme Ritter in the Deutsches Wörterbuch, quoting from the Buch von guter Spyse, which dates back to the 14th century. Another early mention is in the time of the reign of Henry V, when it was known as pain perdu in England. Pain perdu means "lost bread"; stale bread that might have otherwise been thrown away could be used for this dish.

The Oxford English Dictionary cites usages of "French toast" in a book called The Accomplisht Cook in 1660, which listed a recipe for French toast (toasted bread with wine, orange juice, and sugar). The Dictionary of American Food and Drink states the first egg-based recipe appeared in print in 1870.

All in all this breakfast dish has a long history and is eaten all over this world.