Nigella's pear ginger muffins

It has never seemed to me quite right that Nigella Lawson should write for the New York Times. I understand why they'd want her, and I understand why she'd want to do it, but she's so vibrant and seductive, and the Times is . . . not. Nevertheless, my Nigella-worship is such that I'll take her where I can get her, so I was happy to see her back in the food section last week. [Although--I am always surprised to read these "don't be scared of baking" stories, because I thought that even people like me, who will look at a recipe for tomato sauce (seriously), were comfortable following a recipe for cake or brownies. And it's much easier to measure, dump, and stir than to cook a piece of fish just right. Anyway.]

This weekend I celebrated Nigella's return by making her pear-ginger muffins. Andrew liked them very much (I believe the word "toothsome" was used). I thought they were good, with a few reservations: the brown-sugar-crunchy tops were wonderful, and the heat of the ginger was nice, but I don't like chunks of fruit in my muffins, and I thought they needed a pinch of salt.  Four days later they were still moist and fresh-tasting.

-Preheat oven to 400.
-In a large bowl, mix 1.75 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 tsp ground ginger.
-In another bowl, mix 2/3 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 tbs honey, and 2 large eggs. Fold into the dry ingredients. Fold in 1.5 cups peeled pears cut into 1/4 inch dice.
-Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle 2 tbs total brown sugar over tops of muffins and bake for 20 minutes.

Comments

[chronicler]

I love pears. Anything i can find that they work well in is a recipe worth saving! Thanks! Oh and I agree, the times and Nigella. I wouldn't have put them on a blind date together!

[Robin]

Did you see that a fresh ginger cake with caramelized pears was recently posted at Orangette? It sounds like the what these muffins might be when they grow up, and definitely worth looking into! But for Saturday morning, these were great.

[Luisa]

Hey Robin - I haven't gotten around to trying either of the recipes published in that article, so I'm glad to see you did! I hope to get to the chocolate banana cake soon. I totally agree, by the way, with your assessment of baking...