Duck eggs help make great muffins!

Duck eggs here! That's what the sign said, so I pulled in to the rural New Jersey driveway and ended up buying a dozen. They are supposed to be terrific for baking, with large yolks and I soon put them to the test. I hadn't made muffins for quite a while, and I thought lemon poppyseed would be a good springtime treat.



"The Cheeseboard Collective Works" provided the inspiration and the recipe. I started with 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar and the zest of a large lemon in a small bowl. Put the lemons' juice in another bowl together with 2 eggs, 1 cup plain yogurt and 1 cup heavy cream. In your mixer bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. To this add the lemon sugar and mix.

Then add 1 1/2 sticks of butter, mixing on low for 4 minutes until butter is pea sized. Add 3 Tbsp poppy seeds and the wet ingredients. Mix to just bring everything together. Spoon into greased muffin tin, makes 10-12 good sized muffins. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes and allow to cool on a rack.



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These are rich, moist muffins. To give more lemon zing to the flavor profile, make sure your lemon is large, or use 2 average size lemons. You could also use a small amount of lemon extract to really pucker up.