Cornmeal Blueberry Muffin Souffle

Well, remember those blueberry cornmeal muffins from my earlier post last week? The last time I made those, I made a LOT. More than our guests could decently eat in the time they were with us, and more than we could handle all on our lonesome. My freezer would not allow any more foodstuffs to be stored, most of the nooks and crannies being filled in with quart-sized bags of blueberries and black raspberries that my husband so nicely picked for our later enjoyment. And they were beginning to get a little dry–even a few seconds in the microwave did not perk them up very much. But my inner frugalista could not bear the thought of introducing them to the local compost pile. SO, what could I do with them?

 

One of the things we really enjoy is a good bread pudding, and that is the first thing that came to mind, but muffins are quite different from the yeast breads we normally use for this purpose. But, since no other ideas came to mind, I thought it was definitely worth the risk. With the help of some milk, a few eggs, a little sugar and spice, the muffins were transformed from slightly dry bits of breadstuffs to a beautifully light, souffle-like custardy dessert which, when topped with a simple blueberry syrup, made a great ending to an otherwise simple meal. I highly recommend making extra muffins just for this purpose! And I’m thinking some other muffins might work just as well (those bran apple muffins come to mind…).

 

Cornmeal Blueberry Muffin Souffle

 

 

6 standard-sized cornmeal blueberry muffins

4 eggs

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

Pinch of salt

2 1/2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

 

Preheat over to 325 F. Break muffins into large chunks in a buttered 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Whisk eggs thoroughly, add sugar, spices and salt, and whisk again to incorporate. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix till completely combined. Pour over muffins, and let the mixture sit for a few minutes to give the muffins time to absorb some of the egg mixture. Push down any floating pieces to make sure all sides have been exposed to the custard. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a clean knife inserted near the middle comes out mostly clean. Let cool a bit before serving, or chill until ready to serve. (We liked it best served slightly warm.)  Serve with Simple Blueberry Sauce.

 

 

Simple Blueberry Sauce

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup sugar

grated rind of one lime

juice from one lime

dash salt

1/2 t. vanilla extract

 

Place berries, sugar, lime rind, lime juice and salt in a small saucepan, and heat until the mixture boils and berries begin to burst. Lightly crush some of the berries, boil for one minute, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. May be served warm or cold, and any leftover should be refrigerated. Great with ice cream, pound cake, angel food cake, pancakes, etc.

 

Normally, I’ve used lemon with any blueberry sauces I’ve made, but all I had at hand at the time was a lime, and we loved it! Gives a nice twist to the dessert.