However this is no normal cake, these are cupcakes with a twist - that being that each one contains its own whole pear, so there cakes even count as one of your 5-a-day, what more could you want?!
Although cardamom seems like an odd ingredient for a cake, paired with with white chocolate and poached pears it brings the flavour of the cake to a whole new level of deliciousness!
Ingredients
(makes around 6 cupcakes)
(for the poached pears)
- 6x small Conference Pears
- 1litre of water
- 1/3 cup of Agave Nectar (or honey)
- 1/3 cup of Brown Sugar
- 6x Whole Cloves
- 12x whole Cardamom Pods (crushed)
- 2 teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon
(for the cupcakes)
- 6oz of Self Raising Flour
- 6oz of Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- 6oz (1 cup) of Caster Sugar
- 1teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 3x Eggs (beaten)
- 50ml of Milk
- 1teaspoon of Ground Cardamom
- 100grams (3/4 cup) of White Chocolate Chips
Method
(for the poached pears)
1) Firstly peel your pears leaving the stem intact.
2) Next add all of the ingredients to a large saucepan over a medium heat and stir until it has come to the boil and the sugar has dissolved. Then add the pears and reduce the heat, simmering for around 20-30 minutes until the pears are soft but not mushy. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.
(for the cupcakes)
3) While your pears are cooling, prepare a muffin tray with muffin cases and set to one side and preheat your oven to 180C.
4) Grab yourself a large bowl and whisk the Butter and Sugar together with an electric hand whisk (or by hand if you want an arm workout!) until it has turned white and fluffy.
5) Next add your eggs, one at a time and incorporate them gently into the mixture.
6) Fold in the flour, baking powder and cardamom next until they are completely combined, then add your milk and chocolate chips, being careful not to over whisk and split your cake mixture.
Top Tip: if you do over whisk and split your cake mixture, add more flour a tablespoon at a time and mix until it has returned back to how it should be !
7) Take the cooled pears and slice off the bottom end so they stand on their own with the stem facing up. Then place one in upright in each muffin case (you may need to cut a little pear away from the sides if they are too fat to allow the cake mixture today around them in the muffin cases).
8) Put around 1-2 tablespoons of cake mixture around each pear in the muffin cases - do not fill them the muffin cases to the top with mixture, remember cakes rise in the oven!
9) Place in the oven for around 30-40minutes, testing after 30 minutes to see if they are cooked by inserting a clean toothpick or knife into the cake, if it comes out clean they are ready.
Sit back and enjoy!
Charlotte x
Sent from my iPhone
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