Millet Muffins filled with Strawberry Mascarpone

Social distancing here in my hometown, I found a small ethnic food mart near the trail I was walking. An African-Caribbean store with a friendly owner and no other patrons, I quickly found some dry fava beans to purchase and then asked what the package that said "Kumba" was. "Millet" she said, and I added it to my finds. This millet was dark, smaller than the yellow grain often found in bird seed, yet bigger than teff. 

Loving all whole grains and my counter top flour mill, I ground some of the millet to make a sponge cake type dessert I've made with teff. The cakes were made in muffin pans, with only 2 tablespoons of batter per muffin. Baked and sliced in half horizontally, I filled the little cakes with a mascarpone, strawberry and almond cream. That cream was the perfect addition to a cake that tends to be a little dry and crumbly.

Millet Muffins filled with Strawberry Mascarpone

(20 servings)

Sift cocoa in bowl.  Mix with flour.
5 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa (not the Dutch processed kind)
1/2 cup millet flour

Combine eggs, sugar and salt in bowl of electric mixer with whisk attachment.  Beat on high speed 5 minutes.  
4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat buttery sticks, melt and pour into deep reserved bowl.
3 tablespoon vegan buttery sticks

Remove mixer bowl with whipped egg-sugar-salt mix.  Fold in 1/3 of the flour-cocoa mix.  Repeat with half the remaining flour, then the rest of the flour.  

Scrape 1/4 of the batter into the hot butter.  Fold until butter is completely blended.  Scrape batter over the remaining butter and fold just until blended. 

Dip a 2 tablespoon scoop of batter into muffin pans greased with olive oil spray.

Bake at 335 F for 15 minutes.  While the muffins are hot, run a spatula around the inside of each tin, pressing against the sides of the pan.  

Remove muffins onto cooling rack.  

I cut and filled each with cream just before eating.

Strawberry Mascarpone Filling

Whip all ingredients together.  Refrigerate.
8 ounce mascarpone
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped in food processor
2 tablespoon almonds, ground
Fill each muffin with 1 tablespoon cream.