This week’s fresh vegie box came with a bit too much fruit, particularly when my orange tree still has plenty of sweet fruit on it and I still have persimmons and apples from a friend.

And so I had four delicious Bartlett pears that were rapidly getting past their best. I hate that.

I have a yen to make a recipe that I  haven’t in many years – a delicious confection called a pear honey. But four small pears wasn’t nearly enough for that. It will have to wait until I get enough.

So today’s bake was a simple one, driven by that simple need to make use of what was on the bench top, and to do it today. The recipe comes from food.com, where it had 5 stars.

Chocolate and pear muffins

Beat until thick, pale and creamy:
160g softened butter
100g vanilla sugar (I had none, so I used caster sugar and added a couple of drops of vanilla extract)

Add 3 eggs, one at a time.

Sift into the wet mix and beat gently:
225g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbs cocoa powder

Fold in:
2 diced pears (my pears were very small, so I used 3)
75g dark chocolate pieces/bits

Spoon into a muffin pan. Bake at 190C for 20-30 minutes. I cooked mine for 28 minutes, since usually my oven requires the long end of the baking time. But it was too long; the muffins were a bit overcooked and crisp around the edges.

Verdict: They were tasty, but my slight overcooking left them a little dry, except for the sweet, juicy pears. I think my overall lack of inspiration showed.

Corinna Hente