Earl grey poached pear muffins and thriftiness

These lovely little muffins are gorgeous and packed with floral notes. They’re the perfect afternoon pick-me-up because they’re full of pears and they’ve not got too much butter or sugar in them; the sweetness in the mixture mainly comes from the vanilla bean and the earl grey tea. They’re also great because there is no wastage! You make use of the poaching liquid and the pear peel, so they’re super thrifty! Thriftiness is in at the moment, thank you Macklemore!

I bought my tea from a fabulous little tea supplier I stumbled upon at the Marricvkville organic markets, but you can use whatever type you want. The Ttotaler tea that I used is particularly special because it’s bursting with rose petals, which give the mixture a beautiful fragrance and a pop of colour as well. If you love tea, check out their Facebook, I’m all for supporting small businesses!

If you’ve never cooked with tea before, this is the recipe to start on! Earl grey tea is fruity and gentle on your tastebuds, and when combined with pear and vanilla the mixture is beautifully sweet and inviting.

 Eary grey poahced pear muffins

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 cup water
• 4 tsp loose leaf earl grey tea
• 2 small pears
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 50g butter
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup pear skin
• 1 ½ cups self-raising flour

Boil your kettle and measure out one cup to brew the tea in. Allow it to steep for five minutes while you peel and core your pears. Don’t throw your pear skins out! You’ll need it later.

Pop the naked pears into a medium saucepan with the sugar, vanilla bean and brewed tea (tea leaves and all!) Top the water level up so that it just covers the pears.

Heat the pear mixture over a medium flame and bring it to a simmer. When it reaches a simmer, turn it down and pop a lid on the pan so that it continues to simmer. Leave the pears to gently bubble away while you start on the muffin mix.

Cream the butter and sugar together. There’s not much butter in this recipe, so it won’t be particularly creamy, it should look kind of grainy – that’s okay though! Add your eggs into the mixture and give it a good mix.

Grab your pear skins (which are probably browning rapidly) and cut them up finely so that they turn into a sort of mush, then throw them into the mixing bowl. The skins give the finished muffin a gorgeous moistness and save on wastage.

Add in the flour and mix until just combined.

Remove the pears from the saucepan using a spoon (don’t burn yourself!) and allow them to cool before you start chopping them. Take 1/4 cup of the liquid left over from your poached pears and mix that into your batter.

Now preheat your oven to 180C and grease a 12 cup capacity muffin tin.

Chop the pears into large cubes and gently fold them into the mixture. Don’t over mix them, you don’t want them to start disintegrating. Poached pears are pretty fragile, so mix lovingly.

Spoon the mixture into your prepared muffin tin and bake them for 15-18 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with icing sugar or with an earl grey infused cream for the ultimate tea party treat.