This is inspired by the famous Rebel Within muffin from Craftsman and Wolves in San Francisco. A savoury muffin studded with cheddar, parmesan and chives encases a beautifully runny egg. The hardest part about making the Rebel Within is figuring out the timing of the egg but it is so satisfying when you cut into it and the yolk oozes out!
Makes 6large muffins
Ingredients
Soft-Boiled Eggs
6large eggs
Savoury Muffin Batter
240g(2 cups) all-purpose flour
39g(3 tbsp) granulated sugar
1tbspbaking powder
1tspsalt
1/2tspbaking soda
240g(1 cup) full-fat sour cream, room temperature
2large eggs, room temperature
57g(1/4 cup) butter, melted
3tbspmilk
200g(2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese
100g(1 cup) shredded parmesan cheese
1tbspchives, finely chopped
Instructions
Soft-Boiled Eggs
Fill a bowl with warm water and place eggs in the bowl.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Slowly lower the eggs into the boiling water. Set timer for 2 minutes 45 seconds* (See note)
While eggs are boiling, create an ice bath in a bowl.
Once timer is up, remove the eggs from the pot and place into the bowl of ice water. This will stop the eggs from cooking further.
Once eggs are cool enough to touch, very carefully peel the eggs. Gently tap the egg on the counter to crack the shell. Start peeling from the cracks in the wide end of the egg. The hardest section to peel is the narrowest part. If the white sticks to the shell in one spot, try from a different spot.
Once all the eggs are peeled, place on a plate and place in the freezer while you make the muffin batter.
Savoury Muffin Batter
Preheat oven to 400F and grease a large muffin/popover pan. Grease the top of the muffin pan generously. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs, and melted butter, and milk.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, and stir with spatula until ingredients are mostly combined.
Add 75% of the cheddar cheese, all of the parmesan cheese, and chives and mix until evenly distributed. The batter will be thick.
Transfer the batter to a piping bag. Pipe a thin later of batter to the bottom of the muffin pan. Place a chilled soft boiled egg in centre. Continue to pipe the batter around and on top of the egg. Be generous when piping batter on top of the egg because the batter will slide off a little as it bakes.
Top each muffin dome with the reserved cheddar cheese.
Bake muffins for 16 minutes rotating halfway through the baking time. The tops of the muffins should be golden brown.
Allow muffins to cool in pan for 5 minutes. As these muffins cool, it will continue to cook the egg. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, carefully go around the sides of the muffin to loosen it from the pan. Once it is no longer sticking to the sides of the pan, remove the muffins.
Enjoy warm.
Notes
*I found that an egg boiled for 2 minutes and 45 seconds to 3 minutes is perfect. A three minutes and 15 seconds egg is much easier to peel but doesn't guarantee consistency results every time you cut open the muffin.