Berry Mango Swirl Muffins

A multicolored muffin swirled with blueberry, mango, raspberry, and strawberry purees. This whole grain treat makes a large batch, great for bake sales and sharing.

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I was sitting in a Tim Hortons enjoying a blue and yellow swirled lemon blueberry muffin when I got the idea for these muffins. My folks have been visiting this month, which means I've been out and about much more than usual (and have tried a number of interesting breakfast and lunch places--stay tuned for more inspired recipes). Looking at the muffin, I tried to figure out how to simultaneously 'lightly mix together' the batter, as one does for the Muffin Method, while still getting the blueberry puree fully incorporated into the mix.


Clearly I didn't make lemon blueberry muffins for today's Leap of Faith Muffin Monday with the #MuffinMonday bakers. I didn't even master a swirl technique that I could share on the blog. I did, however, make a whole mess of muffins. Enough to give a plate to the office staff of both the junior high and the high schools, some to take to the shop, and the most photogenic ones saved for the dogs.


That's right, apparently Vincent got up to shenanigans while I was at the shop and ate the pretty muffins, not a crumb or paper left. I love that old wiener dog, and while I have no concrete proof (my daughter saw him on the dining room table though), instead of making a bazillion more muffins I've just taken photos of what's left. They were fruity and fun to make, though, so I hope you'll consider trying these when you want to make a bunch of muffins that stand out a bit.

Sunset Pizza: Mango, Pepperoni, Red Onion and Yellow Pepper (Pizza Night!)

Crystal is on the left, Quartz on the right--pre-manicure.

If you've ever spent time around guinea pigs you know they are quite comfortable expressing their preferences.  My female guinea pig, Crystal, loves cantaloupe.  [Her cage-mate, Quartz, will eat anything.]  Because I have a tender spot for these pampered spoiled rescued pigs, I keep an eye out for cantaloupe out of season.  When I saw a marked down container of mixed cut fruit, heavy on the cantaloupe, I picked it up for Crystal.

Why am I blogging about this?  The container also had mango in it, and I wanted to try mango on a pizza.  Sorry, Quartz.  That stuff is mine.

 I've wanted to try mango on a pizza for a while now.  I find banana on a pizza delicious, and pineapple on a pizza is commonly accepted, so why not mango?  Because we are living in the midwest, tropical fruits are not part of our CSA farm share.  We get strawberries, blackberries, and pears.  So I shop my grocery store for seasonal fruit and put up the amazing deals that I can't pass up.  Usually, though, mango is not a regular purchase, so I was thrilled with this opportunity.

So was Crystal.

Since I've been making some crazy pizzas for the family lately (2 words:  egg. nog.  and not for dessert) I decided to keep this one pretty standard.  A standard half white flour and half whole wheat flour crust.  A standard pizza sauce.  Standard cheese.  And a bit of pepperoni.  But I am all about using what I've got, and what I've got today is yellow pepper and red onion, so they are going on this pizza too.  All these red and yellow ingredients make us (the moms at wheelchair basketball practice where I am writing this up on Saturday morning) think of a sunset.  So, Sunset Pizza it is.