Apricot and Cardamom Muffins

Apricot season is very short, and on top of it, they tend to soften quickly after buying. So when I ended up with some that started to soften, I decided to bake some quick muffins with them. I used a simple batter, which is very quick to assemble and doesn’t require any special ingredients. It is a fairly stiff batter, as it needs to hold a rather large amount of cut fruit. To make things more interesting, I added aromatic cardamom powder to it, as I find it works well with apricots (great addition when making jams too). The muffins are not overly sweet, and are great for breakfast or brunch, or any time of the day. Try them and enjoy.

Notes:
* When apricot season is over, other fruits (peaches, for example) can be used instead.
* If you prefer sweeter muffins, you can increase the amount of sugar to ¾-1 cup.
* Pearl sugar is a special sugar that keeps its white color and shape while baking. It can be found in specialty stores or online.

Makes: 12
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
5 medium apricots
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp vinegar
1 L egg
½ cup sugar (see notes)
¼ cup oil
½ tsp vanilla paste
1 tsp cardamom powder
1½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup pearl sugar (see notes)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175). Line a muffin pan with paper baking cups.
2. Pit and cut the apricots into medium size cubes (you should end up with about 1½ cups cut fruit). Mix the milk with the vinegar and set aside to sour for a couple of minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with the sugar. Add the oil and whisk to mix. Add the milk, vanilla and cardamom and whisk to combine.
4. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix to a fairly stiff batter. Add the cubed apricots and mix briefly with a spatula to combine.

5. Divide the batter between the baking cups, and sprinkle with pearl sugar.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden and puffed, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost dry. Transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature before serving.