Cherry-Vanilla Valentine Muffins
I created this recipe using my vintage recipe for Plain Muffins from my 1947 The American Woman's Cook Book by Ruth Berolzheimer, and a vintage advertisement for Swan's Down flour. The Swan's Down ad had a recipe for a pink cake, which used chopped maraschino cherries and their juice to color and flavor the cake. That reminded me of my father (who worked at his dad's soda shop in the 1950s) teaching me to make cherry-vanilla cokes. So, I created a pink cherry-vanilla muffin recipe to serve on Valentine's Day!
Ingredients
- 6 cups sifted flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans optional
- 1/2 cup drained chopped maraschino cherries (save the juice!) (affiliate link)
- 1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice affiliate link
- 3 cups milk
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup melted shortening
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Remember to preheat the oven and grease the muffin tins!
- Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder together.
- Add pecans, if using, and chopped cherries. Mix thoroughly.
- Put the reserved cherry juice in the bottom of your liquid measuring cup (affiliate link). Use at least ¼ cup, and up to ¾ cup. Fill with the rest of the way to the 3 cup line only! Your milk should be a lovely pink color.
- Combine the eggs and melted shortening with the pink milk. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add the pink milk mixture to the flour mixture, and stir just enough to dampen the flour.
- Spoon the batter into the greased muffin tins, filling the cups ⅔ full. Bake in a hot oven (425° F.) for 20-25 minutes.