This is a foolproof muffin recipe. I use it for all kinds of muffins with all sorts of fillings, and they always turn out light, fluffy and delicious. This particular flavour combination works brilliantly – pear and ginger are well known flavour friends and the turmeric turns them a gorgeous colour, as well as being a super healthy ingredient we should all eat more of.

I adapted a Williams & Sonoma recipe so I can’t take full credit, but being able to make other people’s recipes your own is something I find really exciting about cooking and baking.

The batter seems quite runny for a muffin mixture but this makes for beautifully airy cakes that cook relatively quickly, too. There’s a bit of flexibility on how much pear and ginger you can add depending on your taste, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find out what suits you best.

Ingredients

• 245g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 eggs
• 240ml milk
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• as much fresh ripe pear as you want, peeled and chopped into smallish bits (I use about 2 pears)

Makes about 12 muffins.

Method

Preheat oven to 200C (gas mark 7). Put 12 standard muffin cases in a muffin tray.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, ground ginger, ground turmeric and fresh ginger. Set aside.

To make the batter, in a bowl, lightly whisk the eggs with a fork. Stir in the milk and vegetable oil. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until until moistened. Fold in the pear. Don’t overmix – lumpy muffin mixture equals fluffy muffins! Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cases, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 2 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and leave to cool completely. Serve warm.

The muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 1 month.