BLUEBERRY PEACH MUFFINS

I love baking muffins.
I prefer eating other kind of cakes, but muffins are so enjoyable to make.
They are easy and quick to prepare and it's a very versatile recipe because you can mix any kind of ingredient can suit your personal taste.

I purchased a basket of blueberries few days ago because I found a special offer. They usually are quite expensive here, but now prices descreased a little because berries won't be on season anymore very soon and markets give them away low-cost as they aren't so tasteful and juicy as they are in August.
I also had a couple of peaches that weren't that fresh anymore.
So I mixed these ingredients together and it ended up a delicious experiment!

INGREDIENTS for about 16 MUFFINS:

• 350 gr of blueberries and peaches
• 250 gr of self-raising flour
• 120 gr. of butter
• 120 gr. of caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 10 tablespoons of milk
• Few drops of vanilla extract

BLUEBERRY:

I don't find blueberries that special...I do love bilberries instead.
The ones who dye your tongue, lips and hands in purple basically!
Bilberries are very tiny, black, soft, juicy and sweet: they have got a fuller taste than blueberries, which are bigger, blue, with less juice and less taste.
The problem is that bilberries are nowhere to be found here because they are an endangered species and it's forbidden to pick them up from the wood understories.
Well, if blueberries are the only option possible...Let's go for them!

PEACH:
Choose juicy and very ripe peaches, preferibly with yellow flesh.
I used Quince Peach, the Pesca Cotogna, a typical Tuscan fruit which is very popular, expecially at the end of Summer, when it's on season.
It's got a reddish-yellow skin and yellow-orange pulp, tending to red close to the core.
It's very sweet and it's got a very intense aroma and flavour, that's why it's suitable for cakes baking.

VANILLA EXTRACT:

It's optional. It's up to you to decide to use it or not.
I usually go for it and I purchase this brand in particular.


Pre-heat the oven at 180°C.
Melt the butter in a heated saucepan on a very low fire.
Don't make it burn or boil.
Put it in a bowl with eggs, milk and vanilla extract and whisk them until they get light and poufy.
In a larger bowl mix all dry ingredients (flour, sugar) and add the egg mixture.
Whisk again for few minutes, until the mixture gets smooth with no lumps.
Peel the peaches, cut them in pieces and add them in the bowl.
Add the blueberries as well.

Put a paper muffin case in each cup of a muffin tin.
Stir the mixture and pour it in each case.
Fill the single cup to the top for plain muffins or just for its 2/3 if you wish to get mini-muffins (which I prefer).
Bake them for about 20-25 minutes.
Remove them from the oven when they are ready, but leave them in their tin until they're cold and dry.

Good taste and colourful appeal.
They are like the last bites of Summer.