Monday, November 23, 2015

Cardamom Pear Muffins (SRC)


It's Secret Recipe Club time again! Each month a dedicated group of bloggers are assigned a blog in secret to peruse and cook from, and then we all post on the same day. Today is reveal day for group D.

This month I was assigned Nicole's blog Hapatite and wow was I in for a treat. Hapatite ("hapa" meaning half or of mixed racial heritage and "tite" meaning appetite) is an absolute treasure-trove of amazing recipes, all drawing upon her family's Chinese, Cherokee, German and Hawaiian American background. As you can imagine this makes for some fabulous food!

One dish that really caught my eye was Nicole's take on char siu chow fun which is served for Chinese New Year.  But then I also loved her Baked Onion Rings and homemade Filet-o-Fish which was my go-to late night meal back in my uni days!

Nicole is also something of a tea connoisseur and has reviewed some really interesting tea blends. My favourite was the Candied Chestnut Tea and I wish it was available here! I really love tea and have an ever-growing collection of herbal teas so this made for some great reading.

As usual though I was on the hunt for kid-friendly snack ideas and you can't beat a muffin. Enter these Cardamom Spiced Pear Muffins.

Cardamom is one of those spices that seems to get overlooked. I remember making a cardamom cake years ago that I absolutely loved but I haven't really used it since, apart from in curries.

These muffins were absolutely delicious. The cardamom added a complexity of flavour that I wasn't expecting yet it wasn't overpowering, probably because it was paired with cinnamon and nutmeg (and the clove that I added because I love it). My boys loved these and as usual I wished I'd made a double batch because they disappeared way too quickly.


Cardamom Pear Muffins
Slightly adapted from Hapatite

2 cups self raising flour (or 2 cups plain flour + 1 tbs baking powder)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
85g softened butter
2 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts ground cardamom
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1/4 ts ground cloves
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup rice milk soured with 1 ts apple cider vinegar)
1 large pear, just ripe, cut into small dice

Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius fan-forced.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the spices and mix well.

Fold through 1/2 the flour followed by 1/2 the buttermilk, then repeat with the remainder.

Fold through the pear pieces.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely (or just eat warm as they are amazing straight from the oven!!).

Thanks for a great month and a delicious recipe Nicole!

17 comments:

  1. What a great recipe! I love the combination of pear and cardamom! I love Nicole's blog.

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  2. Yum! These muffins look tasty - I never would have thought to mix pears and cardamom! Great SRC pick!

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  3. Lovely choice this month! I had your blog this month, and I picked something with cardamom in it too! :) Happy reveal day!

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  4. What a great combination if flavours - very nice indeed! Karen

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  5. I love cardamon, it's actually one of my favorite spices ever!

    great pick for your assignment this month!

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    1. I'm definitely going to find more ways to use it, especially at this time of year!

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  6. Thanks for stopping by and making my muffins! Happy SRC reveal day~

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    1. Thanks Nicole, I loved spending some time on your blog this month :)

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  7. Nicole's blog is the bomb and I love these Fall spiced muffins. Perfect SRC choice this month.

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    1. I had a hard time choosing what to make but these were a winner!

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  8. Cardamom is one of my favorite spices and I think makes everything extra special. Thus I am going gaga over these muffins!

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  9. Hi Susan, this would be a super contribution to Food on Friday: Victorian or Afternoon Tea Party over at Carole's Chatter. Cheers

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  10. I actually recently made pear sauce (just like applesauce but with pears) seasoned with cardamom. It was delicious and I imagine so are these!

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Thanks for reading! Questions or comments? I would love to hear from you ...

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