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Buddha's Hand Citron Muffins


Happy Thanksgiving!  I am no Day 3 of my attempt to make sure that none of this wacky fruit goes to waste.  It is a Buddha's Hand Citron, a citrus fruit with finger-like tentacles, no juice, and lots of rind to zest.  It also smells amazing!

My son and I cut it crosswise so that some of the layers would be shaped like flowers and we blanched them to take out some of the bitterness.  We tried to candy layers but that didn't work as well as we wanted it to because we couldn't seem to get the layers dry enough.  I would try using a food dehydrator next time.

So I've been attempting to come up with creative ways to fully use this rare fruit. Yesterday, I hit upon dicing the fruit and adding it to cupcakes.  We frosted and decorated them and they looked and tasted gorgeous.

It was then that I started to realize that they would also taste amazing as a morning breakfast muffin with a lemon glaze and a slide of Buddha's Hand on the top.  See the recipe below!


RECIPE:  Buddha's Hand Citron Muffins

1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 oz lemon extract
4 eggs 
1/2 cup Buddha's Hand Citron, blanched and diced.  
  • Cream butter and sugar together.  
  • Add eggs one at a time, making certain to beat until smooth. 
  • In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  
  • Combine flour with eggs, sugar and butter. 
  • Fold in lemon extract as well as the diced Buddha's Hand Citron. 
  • Divide batter into 12 cupcakes. 
 Bake in a 300 degree oven for 40 minutes. 

Note that this makes a stiffer batter so that the fruit does not fall to the bottom.

Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
12 1/8th inch thick slices of Buddha's Hand Fruit, blanched.*

Mix all ingredients together and let stand for 30 minutes so that the flavors have time to infuse.  Drizzle glaze over the muffins and place one slide of Buddha's Hand Fruit on the top of the muffin.

* Consider using a mandolin for a more consistent slice. 
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