Cornbread Muffins with Fig Brûlée

September 21, 2012

That culinary torch I bought a few weeks back has been calling to me. After the fun I had with my Banana Brûlée, I had to find another use for it. I thought figs would look beautiful sliced and fanned atop warm cornbread and then torched til caramelized. Such a delicious but simple flavor combination.

I found a great cornbread recipe on Pickles & Honey, one of my new favorite blogs. If you haven’t been over there, please check it out. Amanda’s photos alone will make you drool!

So I began with her cornbread recipe and added only one ingredient: vanilla bean paste. Just a last minute addition to add some oomph.

The figs were so fun to slice and lay out atop the muffins. And torching them? Well, that was just the highlight of my week.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flaxseed whisked with 6 tbsp water)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)
6-8 figs, sliced thinly and then cut in half
granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Grease a muffin tin or line with parchment baking cups as I did. Stir your flax eggs and let sit for a couple minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

Add the flax eggs, maple syrup, soy milk, canola oil and vanilla bean paste to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into the muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool.

Ready for baking

Fresh figs and granulated sugar

Next, take the sliced figs and lay them in a starburst design on top of each muffin. Save the smallest diameter slices for the centers of the sunburst patterns.

Using a small spoon, sprinkle some granulated sugar on top of each sunburst.

Once they’ve all been topped with sugar, use your torch to caramelize them. I did this outside for ventilation and held my torch about an inch from the figs, moving the flame back and forth over them. Remember that if you’ve used parchment or paper liners, that you’ll need to be careful not to set them on fire! You may want to remove them from their liners before this step.