Quick Breads

By Linda Collister

100 Magnificent Muffins & Scones

By Felicity Barnum-Bobb

Collins / 2007 / $13.95

The chocolate-sauce covered "muffin" topped with a candy bar on the cover of this pretty book is telling: A good number of the muffins inside strongly resemble their popular cousin, the cupcake.

Pink Fairy Muffins and Marbled Soccer Muffins are dressed up for birthday parties. White Chocolate Rose Wedding Muffins would make a stunning and different presentation for a nuptial celebration, though with dessert wine among the ingredients and more than 1,000 calories for the "mega" size, I wouldn't eat them for breakfast.

There are recipes for those who like more familiar muffin flavors, like lemon-poppyseed, and there's a chapter for special diets. A table with nutritional information is in the back.

Note: Many of the recipes in this book, originally published in England, call for specialty sugars, such as golden caster or light or dark muscovado.

kate.shatzkin@baltsun.com

Popovers With Goat Cheese and Chile

Makes 12; serves 4 to 6

1 cup milk (not fat-free)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon wheat germ

3 extra-large eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

5 to 6 ounces goat cheese

1 medium-hot chile (or to taste), finely chopped

12-cup muffin tin, or flexible molds set on a baking sheet, well buttered

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the milk, flour, salt, wheat germ, eggs and melted butter in a food processor and run the machine until you get a smooth batter.

Cut the goat cheese into 12 fairly even pieces. Pour the batter into the cups in the muffin tin so each cup is about half full. Add a piece of cheese to each and a little of the chopped chile.

Bake immediately for 25 minutes then - without opening the oven door - turn down the heat to 350 degrees and bake for a further 15 minutes. Serve straight from the oven.

From "Quick Breads"

Per popover: 138 calories, 7 grams protein, 8 grams fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 9 grams carbohydrate, trace fiber, 81 milligrams cholesterol, 117 milligrams sodium