pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm (½in) dice
12-cup muffin tray and 12 muffin cases
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, and line the muffin tray with the paper cases.
Place all the ingredients, except the pears, in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth, then fold in the pears and divide between the muffin cases, filling each case three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until well risen, golden and feeling springy to the touch.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then take from the muffin tray and place on a wire rack to cool down fully.
Apple and ginger (or cinnamon) muffins
Follow the recipe above, replacing the pears with the same quantity of chopped eating apples and either keeping the ginger or replacing it with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
Ingredients grown together seem to go together. Just as apples and blackberries are a perfect match, so too are coconut and lime. The coconut flavour in this recipe comes from both desiccated coconut and coconut milk. The coconut milk is an unusual addition, but it is nonetheless an excellent baking ingredient that helps make the cake lovely and soft due to its high oil content. If at all possible, serve this cake outside on a summer’s evening, ideally accompanied by piña coladas or margaritas!
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 30–35 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 8–12
150ml (5fl oz) coconut milk (see the tip)
50g (2oz) desiccated coconut
25ml (1fl oz) milk
250g (9oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
250g (9oz) caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
Juice and finely grated zest of 2 limes
275g (10oz) self-raising flour
50g (2oz) coconut flakes, toasted (see the tip), to decorate
For the icing
15ml (½fl oz) coconut milk
250g (9oz) icing sugar, sifted
Juice of ½–1 lime
20cm (8in) square cake tin with 5cm (2in) sides
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, then butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with a square of baking parchment. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and place over a high heat. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat and stir in the desiccated coconut and the milk.
Cream the butter until soft in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Whisk the eggs together with the lime juice and zest in a small bowl, then gradually add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture, beating all the time. Sift in the flour and fold in gently to mix.
Tip the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula or palette knife. Place in the oven and bake for 30–35 minutes. When the cake is ready, a skewer inserted into the centre will come out very slightly sticky.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then use a small, sharp knife to loosen the edges and carefully remove the cake from the tin before leaving on a wire rack to finish cooling.
As the cake cools, make the icing. In a bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, icing sugar and the juice of half a lime, adding more if the mixture seems too stiff. Carefully pour the icing over the cake, to cover it in an even layer, then sprinkle over the toasted coconut flakes.
Tip This recipe uses a small (165ml) tin of coconut milk. If you can’t get a small tin, then use a larger one and store any leftover milk in the fridge, where it will keep (in an airtight container) for up to four days, or it can be frozen. Coconut flakes can be toasted in a dry, hot frying pan for a few minutes.
Some spices have their favourite accompaniments: cinnamon, for example, seems to prefer apple to almost anything else. The two are combined here with crunchy walnuts and muscovado (soft brown) sugar for its unrefined, caramel flavour. I’ve used some wholemeal flour in this recipe as I like the difference it makes, adding a little weightiness in both texture and taste. The cake makes a delicious dessert, eaten warm with whipped cream, or you could serve it in the afternoon with tea.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 55 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 10–12
300g (11oz) plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
175g (6oz) wholemeal flour
225g (8oz) soft light brown sugar
175ml (6fl oz) sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
3 eggs
150ml (5fl oz) milk
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm (½in) dice
75g (3oz) walnuts, roughly chopped
For the glaze
150g (5oz) soft light brown sugar
75g (3oz) butter
25cm (10in) diameter cake tin with 6cm (2½in) sides
Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F), Gas mark 3, then grease the sides of the cake tin with sunflower oil and line the base with a disc of baking parchment.
Sift the plain flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl, then add the wholemeal flour and sugar and mix together.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the sunflower oil, eggs and milk, then tip these into the flour and whisk until you have a smooth batter, and stir in the apples and walnuts. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
About 5 minutes before the cake is due to come out, make the glaze. Put the sugar, butter and 1 tablespoon of water into a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat.
When the cake is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it sit in the tin for 10 minutes. Using a small, sharp knife, loosen around the edges and carefully remove the cake from the tin before transferring to a serving plate.
Reheat the glaze and brush all over the cake, then allow to cool before serving. The glaze means this cake will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.