Pear & Ginger Muffins (or Layer Cake!)

Delicious with fresh, preserved or frozen pears, these Pear & Ginger Muffins come into their own (and/or a Layer Cake depending on the occasion).

I happen to have bagfuls of frozen pears! Earlier this year I had ensured I rescued them before our locals possums scoffed them all. My brown pears were picked when still firm on the outside (perfect) and ripened on the kitchen table. So, when I need to whip up a batch of muffins or make a cake at short notice, frozen pears are my fruit de jour!

The pear keeps everything soft and moist, while the ground ginger brings a gentle warmth. Now cyrstalised ginger sounds divine… except I won’t get to enjoy them (flavour is brilliant but there’s something about the texture that I dislike) so I opt for ground ginger.

Perfect with a cup of tea, slightly warm, preferably before anyone else realises they exist. They freeze and reheat easily too (1 minute in the microwave and they taste like straight from the oven)!

The muffins and the layer cake take exactly the same ingredients. The cake was baked in two sponge tins then sandwiched with Cinnamon Cream Cheese icing however, so it’s just a matter of deciding what you want to bake!

Note: Be sure to grease extra muffin trays! This is a big batch of batter (just the way I make them) and will make extra.

I would suggest you keep your layer cake in an air-tight container in the pantry should you need to store it overnight. On one occasion I put it in the fridge and it lost a bit of moisture (a bit on the dry side – there you go, words of experience!).

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing (optional)

• 125g cream cheese (approx half a 250g tub)
• 50g butter, softened
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsps ground cinnamon

Pear & Ginger Muffins (or Layer Cake)!

Makes: 12-16 regular muffins (24-30 mini muffins), depending how high you fill the trays

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp cinnamon (optional but worth it)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 100g melted butter (approx 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups fresh pear, finely diced

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a muffin tray (or oil-spray cake or muffin tin).
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together to aerate.
3. In another bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, milk and vanilla.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently combine. Don’t over mix.
5. Fold through the pear.
6. Divide evenly into muffin tin (approx ¾ full), or divide in half if using 2 x cake tins
7. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until golden and springy to touch.
8. Muffins – cool (or not) before diving in – they are delicious warm!
9. Layer Cake – cool both halves before icing.