Starfruit Muffins

Hello everyone, I am sure some of you are very familiar with Starfruit, or Carambola which is an exotic tropical fruit. Many backyards here in South Florida have it growing, and a friend brought a few to me the other day.

When you cut it, you get a beautiful star shaped slice. It is quite juicy and the taste is sort of like a citrus fruit.

Below is a plate of the sliced fruit ready for me to put on the muffins I made.

The finished muffins are really pretty and tasty, too! I took these to a pot luck dinner and they were a big hit. Below is the recipe. Starfruit is in season now and you can find them at most fresh produce markets.

Recipe for STARFRUIT MUFFINS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbs. molasses

1 large egg

1 cup unsifted all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quick rolled oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped starfruit

1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1Tbs. grated lemon rind

12 slices starfruit

Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Grease 12 muffin pan cups. In bowl, beat together butter, sugar til fluffy and add molasses and egg. Beat until blended. Heat oven to 375. Combine flours, oats, baking soda, baking pwd. cinnamon and salt in another bowl. With wooden spoon, stir flour mixture into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk. Fold in chopped starfruit, coconut and rind. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and top each filled cup with one slice of starfruit. Bake muffins 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and centers spring back when lightly pressed with fingertip. Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar on cake part, avoiding fruit. YUM!