Sugar Hill Inn, Sugar Hill, NH

Goes great over ice cream or with pancakes.

• 2 cups Brandy
• ¼ cup red wine
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 2 cups of water
• 10 pitted cherries cut in half

Place all ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Be careful, the ingredients will expand and get very hot.
Reduce by half and then let cool.
If the sauce is too thick, add more water, bring to a boil again and then cool.
Remove the cinnamon sticks and peppercorns.

• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking power
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter cut in cubes
• ¾ cup  Grade A Dark Amber
• Maple Syrup from Sugar Hill
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• ½ chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400.  Spray or butter muffin tin.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the nuts to the dry ingredients.
Beat butter in electric mixer with paddle attachment until light and airy.
Slowly add the syrup and then beat well.
Beat in the sour cream and the egg.
Stir in the dry ingredients just until blended.
Fill muffin tin and bake 16 minutes.

Makes 16 standard muffins