Author of Ed Engoron’s Choclatique, Running Press, 2011
Muffins are the all-American quick bread that is baked in small portions usually in the shape of cupcakes. Usually they are not as sweet as cupcakes and generally are not frosted. They may be filled with sweet fillings, such as chocolate, toffee or fruit—the most common being blueberries.
My muffins are made with both dark and milk chocolate. They are rich and tender, high-rising, and deep chocolaty—both in color and flavor—kissed with the flavor of fresh orange zest. Serve them warm right from the oven; spread them with butter, jam or better yet one of my chocolate butters. You will soon discover they are the totally decadent way to start the day.
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 45 minutes
Yields 12 muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup Choclatique 72% Ebony Dark Chocolate Pastilles, melted
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Choclatique Milk Chocolate Chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400º F.
- Lightly spray a 12 cup muffin pan with food release, or line with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time along with the melted chocolate then stir in the orange zest, orange juice, vanilla extract and buttermilk.
- Pour into the flour mixture, and mix just until evenly moist.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon or scoop batter into muffin cups.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
ChefSecret: To make sure the chocolate chips don’t drop down to the bottom of the muffin tin, lightly toss them in flour before folding into the batter and they will stay suspended in the middle of the muffin.

The good people at
Francois Melle, Quina corporate pastry chef, led the effort, with help from top craftsman Stephane Treand. The project time exceeded over 400 hours of construction. The attention to detail is extraordinary. The structure is exactly proportional to its inspiration, down to the number of steps, walls and panels. It’s one-thirtieth the size of the original with a base of 10 feet by 10 feet and six feet tall. Melle studied Mayan pyramids to create the exact replica of the Temple.
The research keeps coming in and getting better on the health benefits of
In the past studies have shown that the risk of cardiovascular disease can be lowered over the short-term by eating compounds called flavonoids, which are abundant in
The study was published on May 31st 2001 in the British Medical Journal, and was funded by the Australian Research Council and the drug company Sanofi-Aventis Australia.
ChefSecret: Let people with higher risk of heart attack or stroke know that adding dark chocolate, like 