Number 49: Baker & Banker Bakery's Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffin

By Jonathan Kauffman Wed., Mar. 7 2012 at 2:15 PM

Categories: SFoodie's 50

Jonathan Kauffman

Lori Baker's blueberry cream cheese muffin.

SFoodie's countdown of our favorite 50 things to eat and drink, 2012 edition

There is no glory to the muffin. After cornflakes and milk, it's the most prosaic breakfast imaginable, the kind of thing you buy flats of from Costco for your office retreat or grab at the SFO Peet's on the way to your gate simply because every other pastry in the case looks too much like dessert.

Lori Baker, co-owner and pastry chef at Baker & Banker Bakery, makes a blueberry muffin that has more in common with the modern cupcake, an ornate miniature. The pastry's full name, in fact -- "blueberry cream cheese streusel muffin" -- is longer than those of most European princes.

The oaty, cinnamon-scented crumble on top is so good that some people break off in crisp-edged hunks to savor by itself, and the crumb is so tender you have to eat the muffin out of the paper wrapping. It's riddled with sweet-tart, collapsed berries and pockets of cream cheese which leave your lips smeary and a little obscene -- especially if you get to the bakery early enough in the morning to buy the muffins when they're warm. And if you find yourself balking at the $3.50 price, remember: It's not breakfast -- It's brunch.

Baker & Banker Bakery: 1701 Octavia (Bush St. entrance), 351-2500, www.bakerandbanker.com.

Other favorites in this series:

50: Kufta tajine from Cafe Zitouna

Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie, and like us on Facebook.
Follow me at @JonKauffman.