A few weeks ago I received an unexpected delivery in the post, of some South African apples and pears inside a lovely and roomy cool bag, which I have had lots of use out of for picnics ever since.
I have to be honest, pears are not a fruit I tend to buy because I dont like them, and in the past I have bought one for the boys to try, but they always claim they don’t (despite eating them happily when they were weaning!). Apples are a favourite for 3 of us, so I knew they would get eaten ok. Therefore so as not to waste the pears, I decided the only way to get my fussy eaters to eat them, was to incorporate them into cakes – huzzah!
I did a little cake experiment, and thought I would add some ginger to the batter along with grated pear, as I know that pear and ginger make a tasty crumble combo. Then, I thought I would add a crumble topping to the muffins to add some texture, and to make it a litle different, decided to add some cocoa to make a chocolate crumble topping.
Here is how I made my Pear & Ginger Muffins with a chocolate crumble topping
- *FOR THE MUFFIN BATTER*
- 200g unsalted butter
- 200g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 200g self raising flour
- 2 ripe pears, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp ginger
- *FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING*
- 25g unsalted butter - cold
- 40g flour
- 10g cocoa powder
- 25g caster sugar
- pre heat the oven to 180 oC / 160oC (fan)
- line a muffin tray or two with paper cake cases
- cream the butter and sugar together until pale and soft
- add the eggs and a spoonful of the flour, and beat for a few minutes
- add the ginger and the grated pear and mix well
- then fold in the flour
- divide the batter between the paper cake cases
- place the cold butter, the flour and the cocoa powder into a bowl and rub together to make course crumbs
- then stir through the sugar
- add a pinch of the crumble topping to each muffin, scattering all over the top of each one
- bake in the oven for 20- 25 mins until risen and cooked all the way through
- leave to cool before tucking in 🙂
These proved to be a big hit with my family and the chocolate crumble topping not only made the muffins look pretty and interesting, but added a lovely flavour and texture to the cakes. The pears added natural sweetness and moisture to the muffins, and the ginger added some subtle heat which worked well too. All in all my cake experiment was a big success – hurrah!!!
They look and sound delicious! You can’t beat a crumble topping on a muffin can you? I have just made some spiced apple and blueberry ones with an oat crumble top…
20 fruity recipes especially for autumn | Foodies 100
[…] recipe that incorporates them into the mixture to make them more palatable for fussy eaters in her pear and ginger muffins which have a lovely chocolate crumble […]