TWD - Make-up Monday - Orange Blueberry Muffins

I have decided that I am going to try to make up some of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes I missed because I didn't join until June of 2009. Or, at least that is what I'm saying this week because I have been uber-motivated to bake all of a sudden. I think it is because fall is upon us and I always want to bake more in the fall.

This weekend, I decided to make Orange Berry Muffins. I was in the mood for muffins and these were very good and very easy. I like buttermilk in muffins because it gives the batter that little tang and makes them very fluffy. My live-in taste tester said he didn't like the batter because it wasn't as good as cake batter. I'm assuming he actually knows that muffins and cakes are two different things. . . .

I was a bit disappointed because the muffins, while very blueberry-y, did not taste orange-y at all. I added the entire zested rind and all of the juice I could squeeze out of the poor orange but got little in flavor-return. After loving orange flavoring in other TWD recipes, I was sad.

But now I know what the problem was . . . bad oranges. I ate one of them at lunch today and it had almost no flavor. So, my hopes are restored that I can have very orange-y muffins using this recipe.

As a side note, you may notice I used silicone muffin cups to make these muffins. I know Dorie often mentions using silicone bakeware and usually says that you do not have to prep silicone bakeware. I would like to know if other people have found this to be true? In my experience (limited to these muffin cups), they only work if they are sprayed with Pam with Flour for Baking. After that prep, they work very well and are much easier to clean than regular muffin tins. These are fairly high-quality silicone muffin cups - I believe my mother bought them for me either at Williams-Sonoma or Crate and Barrel.

Any other silicone experiences?