How does a recipe come about?, have you ever wondered? These mimosa muffins were born from a suggestion by Lauretta, my father’s partner. I was at their place a few weeks ago explaining that this year I wanted to prepare a dessert for International Women’s Day. Of course the first thought was the Mimosa Cake with pastry cream and pineapple. But I had two problems: one, I don’t eat pineapple, I really don’t like it; second, the technical times to prepare and make the cake.
To film the recipe I would have had to make two cakes. One morning to record the preparation of the two sponge cakes and a second morning to fill and decorate the cake. In short, two days to create content. I admit I had already lost the desire to do it. Lauretta, four days ago, sent me a message: “Why don’t you make muffins since they always turn out great and decorate them like the cake?” And that’s when the lightbulb went on. She was right: I could make mimosa muffins with pastry cream and decorate them like the cake. I removed the pineapple and chose the delicious and indulgent Fabbri 1905 sour cherries, and here we are today!
How many times have you thought: “This year I’ll make the Mimosa Cake!” and then gave up? Well, this year, for March 8, I chose muffins! Honestly, having to prepare two sponge cakes, I don’t even have two pans of the same size, waiting for them to cool completely before proceeding. Then the filling, the decoration… in short, I already lost the desire just writing all this, let alone doing it. As I always say in my video recipes, I love easy, quick and delicious recipes and so I always try to simplify and speed up the process. So, I’m sure the Mimosa Cake is delicious, but these muffins with pastry cream and sour cherries are pretty impressive too!
Obviously we will have to prepare the pastry cream in advance and let it cool completely before using it to fill and decorate the muffins. Below you will find the amounts to prepare grandma’s pastry cream. Now you have no excuse!
On the blog you’ll find many sweet recipes with homemade pastry cream prepared following Grandma Licia’s recipe. A thick, fragrant and super-indulgent cream, perfect for filling, decorating and making every dessert unique. All the recipes are in the collection “Sweet recipes with homemade pastry cream” and below I leave my favorites and the most read on the blog each year. There’s also the second-to-last published: mattonella dessert, an easy and quick no-bake recipe that I recommend you don’t miss!
I thank, and invite you to thank, Lauretta for lighting this little bulb in my head so I could share with you this dessert for International Women’s Day! I hope you like it and that the sour-cherry center wins you over from the very first bite!
I remind you that I wait for you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of “Le Ricette di Bea” with the Recipe of the Day! An unmissable appointment to start the day with a sweet or savory treat!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 12 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven (conventional)
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: International Women's Day, All seasons
Ingredients for 12 Mimosa Muffins with Pastry Cream
- 1 7/8 cups all-purpose flour (for soft cakes)
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (or potato starch)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or 65 g (about 4 1/2 tbsp / 2.3 oz) softened butter)
- 2 eggs (at room temperature)
- 2/3 cup milk (at room temperature)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 vial vanilla (or one sachet)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup milk (at room temperature (for the pastry cream; about 8.5 fl oz))
- 1/4 cup flour (or cornstarch (for the pastry cream))
- 1 egg (at room temperature)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 vial vanilla (or one sachet or the seeds of one vanilla pod)
- 15 sour cherries (Fabbri 1905)
To prepare Grandma’s pastry cream needed to fill and decorate the mimosa muffins you can read and follow the recipe found by clicking the following link: Grandma’s pastry cream. Keep in mind the quantities indicated above for its preparation. In the recipe card you will also find the necessary tools and the step-by-step procedure.
Tools to prepare Mimosa Muffins with a cream and sour-cherry center
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Hand mixer
- 1 Tablespoon
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Kitchen scale
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Muffin tin
- 12 Paper liners
- 1 Cooling rack
- 1 Oven
- 1 Piping bag
- 1 Knife
- 1 Plate
- 1 Fork
- 1 Ladle
The list of tools needed to make these muffins is a bit long but don’t be intimidated, the process is smooth and quick like all the recipes I propose!
Recipe steps for mimosa muffins with a cream and sour-cherry center
I begin preparing the muffins by gathering all the necessary ingredients, weighing and arranging them on the work surface. I preheat the oven in conventional mode to 338–356°F so it will be hot when I put the muffins in. I take the bowl with high sides, the electric hand mixer and all the other tools and I’m finally ready to start.
I pour the sugar into the bowl, break the eggs (at room temperature), and add a pinch of salt. If you are using a vanilla vial or a sachet, add it to the liquids now. I switch on the mixer and start mixing. You should obtain a thick and frothy cream, rather pale in color. It will take about five minutes to reach this result.
I gradually add the liquids: the dose of lemon juice, the vegetable oil and the milk at room temperature. If you use butter, it must be softened to room temperature and cut into small pieces so it will be easier to incorporate into the batter. Once the liquids are well combined, I turn off the mixer and proceed with the flours.
Using a sieve and a tablespoon I add the flours I had weighed earlier. Spoonful by spoonful until finished. I turn the mixer back on at low speed and work the batter. You will see it become a frothy, lump-free mixture. I switch off the mixer, which from this point on is no longer needed.
I place the paper liners in the muffin tin and use a small ladle to start pouring the batter. I leave about 1 cm (about 3/8 in) of space at the top so the batter has enough room to rise and take the classic muffin shape.
I put the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes in conventional mode at 338°F. Always do the toothpick test before turning off the oven and start checking from 25 minutes onward.
I remove the muffins from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack to let them cool completely without receiving more heat from the pan. I let the mimosa muffins cool for 1 hour and 30 minutes before proceeding. The necessary time is at least one hour, but if you have more time let them cool fully so they won’t break when we cut off the cap and fill them with the homemade pastry cream.
After this time I can proceed. I take the bowl with the pastry cream, prepared the evening before, and with a spoon or a whisk I mix it well to make it soft and creamy again. I transfer the cream into a piping bag fitted with a fairly large tip so I can work quickly and smoothly.
I take a small plate and with a knife I start cutting the cap off the muffin. One at a time so you don’t make mistakes. Don’t hurry, it will only take a few minutes once you understand how to proceed. With the tip of the knife we make a hole in the center of each muffin which we will fill with cream.
I take the piping bag and fill the muffin without overdoing it. Too much cream would make it messy to eat or could fall out. I take a fork and remove a sour cherry from its syrup and place it in the center of the muffin.
I replace the cap and use cream to decorate the surface. With my hands I crumble the muffin cap to create the classic and beautiful Mimosa Cake decoration we all know.
The mimosa muffins with pastry cream and sour cherries are finally ready to be served to our family, our guests or our friends if we’ve organized a women’s dinner. Any occasion is perfect for enjoying these little desserts with cream and sour cherry.
All that’s left is to wish you a good meal and to remind you that I wait for you every day here on my cooking blog with many easy, quick and delicious recipes like this one!
You can serve these muffins for Valentine’s Day or for Easter, for example. Two different occasions where, in my opinion, these muffins are perfect to finish a lunch or dinner.
Storage, tips and variations of the recipe:
Storage for mimosa muffins with cream and sour cherries: you can store the muffins in a cake container with a lid for a couple of days. I recommend not filling them with cream immediately but only just before serving. This way the cream will be well preserved in the refrigerator and won’t spoil. So the cutting of the cap, the filling and the external decoration will be done at that moment.
If you have already decorated and filled the mimosa muffins you can keep them in the refrigerator for a couple of days. They will become a little firmer but at least they won’t be wasted. Remember: take the muffins out of the refrigerator that you are sure you will eat and leave them at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
Tips for the recipe: work the egg and sugar mixture well, create a nice pale and dense foam. It will take several minutes but it will be the fundamental base for the muffins and for the good result of the dessert. Sift the flours, the plain flour, the cornstarch or potato starch and the baking powder before adding them to the egg mixture. Don’t overfill the paper liners, leave about one centimeter of space so they can puff up and take the classic muffin shape.
Recipe variations: you can replace the sour cherry with pineapple pieces if you like, with apple cubes or another fruit of your choice. You can also create a hazelnut-cream center if you don’t want to spend time preparing pastry cream. They’ll obviously be different outside too, because Nutella will create that color contrast with the crumbled topping. As indicated, you can replace vegetable oil with butter and use cornstarch or potato starch to obtain muffins as soft as a cloud.
