My friend made Kyle mini muffins/ cup cakes…well, the look takes some ‘curiosity’ to try it but when you bite it…soft, warm with a tint of fresh sweetness, yum! 20 plus dark green balls were swallowed by two of us.
I decided to try to make Kyle mini muffins for the volunteers as snacks in an event today. I got up early preparing: peeled the kyle leaves off the spine, cooked them in hot water to soft, then mixed it with apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and unsweetened apple sauce in a blinder and pureed. I poured the green liquid in a bowl and mixed with whole wheat floor then scooped the goodness into a mini cake cup. The dough felt a bit soft but I’m not sure how the texture should be. I had followed the recipe except skipped the apple syrup, thinking we don’t need double-sweetness, the apple sauce is naturally sweet. I put the final touch, a blueberry on top of each cake, and placed the tray into the oven. I turned at half time to make sure they were baked evenly. I’m excited and a bit anxious waiting…
The first batch came out…well, the muffin looked a bit sloppy, not standing ‘tall and full’ like what my friend made. I guess probably because of the softer dough and support (I didn’t have the metal muffin tray so I put paper cup on top of a flat tray). I tasted one. The flavor was decent but it stuck to the paper cup, a bit work to eat.
For the second batch, the dough was better, probably as it sat out for a bit, it’s drier and harder. The muffins looked fully and taller, good. I put all muffins into a plastic bag, left it slightly open so the steam can come out, not to make everything mushy. The whole process took longer than expected, I’m late and rushed to the event.
It was pouring rain outside. My shoes were soaked and paper bag was broken when I got to the location. I took out the ‘treasure’ bag. The muffins looked a bit sad. Well, they’re healthy snacks for people.
I asked my aunt if she’d like to try a mini muffin. ‘What is the flabove?’ She asked and looked puzzled. ‘What do you think it is?’ I’m curious. She said ‘chocolate’ (ah, it’s dark color but not brown), I replied enthusiastically, ‘No, it’s very healthy, made of almost all organic ingredients, and no sugar, try it’. I’m afraid that ‘Kyle’ might discourage people to try it. Aunt is a good support and took one. I eagerly asked ‘what do you think?’ she shrank and said nothing. I told her it’s made with kyle, blueberry, unsweeten apple sauce…She said it tasted like a mochi (well, it’s a bit chewy). I left the bag along with other snacks on the food table and went working.
Later during break, I came to the food table. It didn’t seem that many were taken. Another person walked by, I offered the mini muffin to her. ‘It looks sweet’ she said. ‘No, there was no sugar in it’ I responded but she didn’t try.
After 2 hours+ of works, I ended up taking most of the bag home, it’s a bit disappointing yet I also realized that…
1. I shouldn’t call it muffin. Muffin gives people a ‘sweet’ perception, especially when it’s next to another box of grocery store muffin (loaded with sugar and people clearly voted with their months. Only 1 was taken).
2. Setting in the plastic and looked dark and mushy, the kyle cake didn’t look appealing to anybody. There was no sign to tell people what it was.
3. Skipping maple syrup might have altered the texture and taste of it.
Imagine if instead that…
I followed 100% of the recipe and put the mini cup cakes on a plate with a clear cover and a sign:
Kyle blueberry mini cup cake
Freshly baked, Organic, No sugar
Enjoy!
Even more, I’ll walk around to invite people to try it!
A better kyle cake and killing story/ presentation next time 🙂