Go with the grain.

31 Oct

Pear, Spelt and Ginger muffins

Despite being made with 100% wholegrain flour these pear and ginger muffins are deliciously tender. The high proportion of fruit combined with plenty of liquid ensures they remain light and fluffy and keep well for days. Little nuggets of spicy fresh ginger contrast beautifully with the sweet soft pears.

Make sure you only briefly combine the wet and dry mix together, I do it by hand with a spatula - over mixing causes rubbery, hard muffins!

Large or small muffin cases/cupcake cases

4 large pears, peeled and cored

2cm piece of peeled fresh ginger

1 tsp cornflour

180g wholemeal spelt flour

180g light brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

170g plain yoghurt

170g milk

1 large egg

70g vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 180°c. Prepare a cupcake tray with paper muffin cases. Dice your peeled pear into 1 cm cubes. Very finely chop your ginger and combine with the pear. Reserve half the mixture in a bowl and place the rest in a pan with the cornflour and a splash of water. Give it a quick stir to dissolve the cornflour.

Weigh the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk briefly by hand to combine. Weigh the wet ingredients into a bowl and whisk briefly to combine. Add the dry mix to the wet mix using a spatula to gently combine. Don’t worry if it looks a bit lumpy - its better to under mix. Finish by stirring in the reserved pear/ginger mix. Scoop into your prepared paper muffin cases so they are 2/3rds full - the amount depends on the size of paper cases you’ve chosen.

Place the tray in your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and dry on the surface - timings will depending on the size you’ve made so test with a skewer for doneness- it should come out clean. While your muffins are baking, gently heat the remaining pear mix in the pan until bubbling. Let the muffins and the fruit cool slightly then scoop a generous portion of fruit onto each muffin.

New baking classes for 2025

Baking with wholegrains: Learn to bake bread for health AND flavour. This class will teach you the skills to work with a variety of whole-grains, including learning how to mill grains yourself to achieve different textures in your bread.

We’ll be mixing and shaping a range of doughs using both sourdough and yeasted long fermentation methods and working with locally sourced grains

Pasteis de Nata:This 3 hour class will teach you how to make the iconic Pasteis de Nata - egg custard tarts infused with lemon zest and cinnamon encased in a buttery layered then rolled puff pastry shell. Described as one of ‘Portugal's Seven Wonders of Gastronomy’ this little treat will perhaps take you back to memories of Lisbon and will wow your friends and family when you recreate it at home.

Scandinavian sweet buns. This new half day class for 2025 is all about buns! Create memorable ‘’fika’ moments for you and your family as you learn to make, shape and bake a versatile sweet enriched dough for fruity custard buns, cardamon knots and cinnamon buns.