Pear, Ginger and Caramel Cupcakes

One of my favourite dishes from the 15th Century is whole pears stewed in spiced wine. A variation on this I love to make is stewing the pears in ginger wine. I have tried to recreate the flavours in a cupcake. The origional recipe is sweatened with honey, but here I used caramel to flavour the icing instead.

I was very pleased with the results. The pears take on a gently poached texture, and the ginger comes through as a gently warming flavour.

One thing to note is that these cupcakes will not have nice rounded tops as the fruit inside tends to make the rising slightly unevenly, but once they are iced you cannot tell.

This recipe makes 18-20 cupcakes.


Ingredients

Cake

1 1/2 - 2 woody pears
A little lemon juice 240g
Plain Flour 200g
Caster Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger 175g
Butter at room temperature
2 Large Eggs
10 Tablespoons of Sour Cream

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C

2. Peel, core and dice the pears into approximate 5mm cubes, sprinkle a little
lemon juice over them to stop browning and set aside.

3. Place all the other ingredients into your mixing bowl (sifting the dry
ingredients) and beat together until smooth and fluffy, this takes about five
minutes.

4. Now, using a spatula, gently fold in the diced pears.

5. Line a cupcake pan with paper cases, place 1 well heaped dessert spoon of mix
into each cupcake case.

6. Bake for around 20 - 25 mins, until a skewer stuck in comes out cleanly, and the
top springs back when pressed lightly. Lift out onto a rack to cool.

Icing

200g Caster Sugar
120ml Double (Heavy) Cream

90g Butter
230g Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
175g Icing (Confectioners) Sugar

1. In a pan heat the caster sugar until molten and golden in colour, do this gently
and take care not to burn it.

2. Whisk in the cream gradually taking care not to splash and burn yourself.

3. Keep whisking until you have a smooth caramel mixture, then remove from the
heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

4. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.

5. Now add 2/3 of the caramel to the bowl along with the vanilla and beat into
the cream cheese and butter.

6. Still beating, add the icing sugar a little at a time until it is all smoothly
combined.

7. Chill for 30 minutes before piping or spreading on your cupcakes.

8. Chill the iced cup cakes, then drizzle the caramel over them. If the caramel has become too
stiff, warm it slightly.

The Husband's Verdict:

"Very nice cake. Although the taste of the caramel was quite a lot stronger than the pear. Very good cake though. Mmmmm nom nom."