Cinnamon Pear Surprise Muffins

I came back from a brisk early autumn morning running session yesterday and had a craving for a warm moist muffin (or 2!).  So, these were born from a mix of muffin recipes, cafe inspiration and a need to make them interesting enough for the kids to want to try them. The latter being the reason for the "surprise" and the fact that I again have many an Easter egg left over from the chocolate excesses of Easter (see my previous  Easter posts on Chocolate Prune Muffins and Double Chocolate Muffins).

Ingredients
100g raw sugar
3 medium pears (giving about 300g peeled and cored pear - doesn't have to be exact)
1 egg
60g canola oil (or vegetable/sunflower oil)
180g milk
120g Self Raising Flour
100g Wholemeal Flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
2 tblspn extra raw sugar
1/2 tspn extra cinnamon
12 mini Easter eggs (unwrapped)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Grease or line a 12 cup muffin tin.
3. Add sugar to TM bowl. Grind for 3 seconds on speed 9 to make caster sugar. Set aside.
4. Add pears to TM bowl. Chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
5. Add egg, oil and milk to TM bowl. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
6. Add flours, baking powder, cinnamon and caster sugar to TM bowl. Mix for 5 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides with spatula.
7. Add chopped pears to TM bowl. Mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 2 with aid of spatula.
8. Spoon two tablespoons of mixture into each muffin hole. Then place an Easter egg into the middle of each. Spoon remaining batter over the eggs to cover them.
9. Combine extra sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over the top of the muffins.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until tops spring back when you touch them.
11. Leave to cool for 5 minutes or until you can safely remove them from the tin.
12. Place on baking rack to cool or enjoy them warm with a hot cup of tea!

Variation: Instead of having one chocolate egg in the middle, you could just add chocolate chips throughout the muffin, by adding 50-100g milk chocolate buds (or broken easter eggs) when adding the pear. 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Scrolls

Pumpkins are plentiful and so I am baking with them again!

Here is a healthier version of my Cinnamon Buns because not only does it have pumpkin in it (as a substitute for a lot of the butter and sugar) but also uses some wholemeal flour! Thank you LivLife for the recipe.

Ingredients
120g pumpkin, peeled and chopped roughly into 3cm chunks
185g milk
40g butter
15g honey
2 tsp dry yeast
280g bakers flour
150g wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2-3tbsp extra butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method
1. Place pumpkin in TM bowl. Chop for 10 seconds on speed 5. Cook at Varoma temperature for 10 minutes on speed 3. Puree for 10 seconds on speed 8.
2. Add milk, butter and honey. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 3.
3. Make sure temperature of TM bowl is not more than 50C then add yeast, flours, salt and nutmeg. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 7. Knead for 3 minutes on interval speed.
4. Remove dough from TM bowl and place in a large bowl. Cover and leave for at least 1 hour or until double in size.
5. Roll out dough to about 1cm thick. Spread melted butter over it and then sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar evenly over it. 
6. From the long edge roll the dough like a swiss roll then cut into 2-3cm rolls. (Have a look at my Cinnamon Bun post for scroll making pics). Place into a greased or lined baking dish with space between them to allow them to grow in size. Leave for at least half an hour or until doubled in size.
7. Preheat oven to 200C.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes until nicely brown.
9. Devour whilst warm!

German Apple & Pear Cake

Cookbook Adventure #13 - "Du jour"

Winter has finally arrived (judging by today's rain and brisk temperature!) and apples and pears are in their prime. Perfect for this cake (my second adventure from this cookbook - slightly more adventurous than my first).

Easy to make, healthy, rustic and ideal for afternoon tea or as a light dessert after a heavy winter meal.

Here's my Thermotalk version:

Ingredients
120g butter
120g raw sugar
2 eggs
150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored
1 pear, peeled and cored
extra 50g raw sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 22cm springform tin.
2. Place sugar in TM bowl. Grind on speed 8 for 3 seconds.
3. Add butter to TM bowl. Mix for 30 seconds on speed 4. 
4. Insert butterfly and mix for 90 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides and mix for another 90 seconds on speed 4.
5. Add eggs one at a time whilst on speed 4. Scrape down sides after all eggs added.
6. Add flour, baking powder and vanilla. Mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
7. Spread batter into base of tin.
8. Slice fruit thinly and combine with extra sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest. 
9. Arrange fruit on top of cake batter.
10. Bake for about 1 hour or until done when tested. Leave in tin for 5 minutes and then leave to cool on wire rack.
11. Serve with whipped cream (make it a bit fancy by adding 1tsp cinnamon!) or custard (see page 155 of EDC) or icecream (see page 150 of EDC) or just by itself.

Doughnut Muffins

I read about these yummalicious muffins on my daily Foodbuzz email (http://www.foodbuzz.com/top9) and I couldn't wait to make these. Just like Doughnut Holes but no deep frying involved!  Here's the website I got the recipe from  http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/3128726-doughnut-muffins and here it is in Thermotalk:

Ingredients

For the muffins:

140g unsalted butter (chopped into 2cm cubes)

200g sugar (I used 110g)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

190g milk 

30g buttermilk 

360g plain flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp bicarb soda

For the cinnamon-sugar coating:

200g sugar

1.5 Tbsp ground cinnamon

110 to 140g unsalted butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C.  Grease 3 mini muffins tins (I just sprayed it with a Canola Oil spray).

Put butterfly into TM bowl.  Add butter and sugar.  Mix (cream) on speed 4 for 30 seconds or until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides if necessary during the "creaming" process. 

With TM on speed 4 add eggs one at a time until just combined.

Remove butterfly.

Add milk, buttermilk, flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and bicarb soda. Using spatula to assist, mix on speed 2 for 10 seconds or until just combined. Do not over mix- the batter will be heavy, it's ok.

Fill the prepared muffin tins about 3/4 full with batter.  

Bake until lightly golden and firm to the touch, 15-20 minutes.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the tins and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The "bare" muffins

To coat the muffins:  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Roll each muffin in the melted butter, making sure to coat the entire surface. The place in the sugar/cinnamon bowl and roll around to coat well.  This can also be done in a resealable plastic bag.  

Little hands at work

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Leftover tip: If 36 muffins is too much to eat at one go, just freeze them uncoated. When needed, remove from freezer and leave them on the bench top to come back to room temperature and then coat in the butter and sugar/cinnamon mix.  Tastes just like freshly baked!

Cinnamon Buns

Currently my family's most favourite baked good!

My own version of the Brioche recipe from the Thermomix EDC p116.

Ingredients

100g sugar (I used raw sugar)

330g warm milk

2tsp dry yeast

80g butter

650g bakers flour

1tsp salt
1 egg

Cinnamon sprinkle

2/3 cup brown sugar (can use more if desired)

2 tsps of cinnamon (can use more if desired)

Method

Place sugar in TM bowl and pulverise for 3 seconds on speed 9.

Place warm milk (I heat it up in the microwave on high for 1 minute), yeast, butter, flour, salt and egg in TM bowl.  Mix to combine for 10 seconds on speed 7.

Set dial to closed lid position.  Knead for 3 minutes on Interval speed.

Remove dough and let prove for 60 minutes in bowl covered with cling film to double in size. It can be left to prove for longer if you have the time. (I have left it up to 2 hours or even overnight in the fridge.  If left overnight in the fridge it would need at least an hour on the benchtop  to come back to room temperature and to rise to double in size).

After dough has doubled in size, remove from bowl and divide into two.

Take one portion and roll it into a rectangular shape of 3mm thick. (Usually makes a rectangle of about 30cm x 50cm). Sprinkle 1/3 cup of brown sugar evenly over the dough (but leaving 1 to 2cm at the top of one long edge).  Then sprinkle 1tsp cinnamon over the dough. Starting from one long edge roll the dough tightly to the other edge.  Press the dough together at the end to make sure it doesn't unravel.

With a sharp knife cut the dough on the cross section into 2 to 3cm scolls (depending on how fat you want your buns!)  Repeat with remaining portion of dough.

Place the scrolls spaced evenly apart into lined cake tins / oven trays (can do it without the greaseproof paper but just a bit sticky to clean up!) 

Let prove for 30 to 60 minutes to let them double in size.  Again you can leave them to prove longer than this if you have the time (it will make them fluffier!).  

Bake in a hot oven at 200C for approximately 20 minutes until they are golden brown and delicious!

Best eaten whilst warm!

Leftover tip (if there are any!): These freeze really well and are great for lunchbox snacks for the kids.  Just take them out of the freezer and pop them into the lunchbox and they will defrost in time for morning tea. For extra deliciousness at home you can pop them into the microwave for 5 seconds to warm them up a bit and make the brown sugar a bit oozy again!