Growing up in
Michigan, each Fall involved a family trip to our local apple orchard.
We'd drive out to the country for an afternoon of apple gathering,
freshly-pressed cider, and hot-from-the-fryer pumpkin and apple donuts. It was
a tradition that I looked forward to immensely. Then I moved to
Washington. Despite producing more than half of the apples in the United
States, Washington has surprisingly few "u-pick" orchards. After two
years of orchard-less autumns, I was jonesing hard for some apple-picking
action. It seems fitting, then, that Jones Creek Farms came to the rescue.
Jones Creek Farms is
an hour and a half drive north from Seattle, and worth every minute. What it
lacks in fresh donuts, it makes up in its epic groves of nearly 100 varieties of apples and pears. I was familiar with Jones Creek Farms from their stands at
the Broadway and University District Farmers' Markets in Seattle, so when I found out
they offered "u-pick" in September and October, I called up my friend
(and fellow Michigander) Alyssa and made plans to orchard it up. We went in
late October, and while many of the trees had been picked clean, we were able
to find plenty of late harvest apples and pears. Daniel and I picked over 15
pounds of apples and pears, including Calville Blanc D'Hiver apples, Aerlies apples, Winesap apples, Conference pears, and Bosc pears.
Alyssa with her husband, Brian, and baby, Leah; Me and Daniel |
Looking back, it's
pretty clear that I was tripping on my two-years-in-the-making orchard high,
because 15 pounds of fruit is A LOT of fruit for a household of two. Daniel,
level-headed as always, kept saying "Honey, I think we have
enough….", but I was too excited to listen to his totally-accurate
estimation of our bounty. The amount of fruit we'd picked didn't really sink in
until we got home and I saw the mountains of fruit in context. The same fifteen
pounds of fruit that appears diminutive on a 34-acre farm is actually MASSIVE
in a small craftsman kitchen. Oops.
Me, before realizing I've picked far too many apples |
Needless to say,
I'll be cooking (and baking) a lot of apple and pear-centric recipes over the
next few weeks. Today's recipe - Spiced Pear Muffins with Black Pepper & Ginger - used the first round of perfectly ripe
Conference pears, though you could use any variety of pear you have on hand.
The delicate flavor of pears can be a bit challenging to highlight in a recipe, as their quiet "pear-ness" is easily drowned out by other
flavors. These muffins are nicely balanced,
with floral black pepper, freshly-grated ginger, allspice, and nutmeg providing a warm, spice-cake-y background for jammy pockets of sweet pear.
Don't let the black pepper
freak you out - its pleasant, gentle heat and heady aroma are absolutely at
home in autumnal baked goods. I was inspired by old-school gingerbread
recipes, which often called for black pepper in addition to the requisite ginger. One last note - I'm really happy with the
texture of these 100% whole wheat muffins. They have a beautiful, moist crumb and are surprisingly light (the ultimate whole grain baking victory!).
Spiced Pear Muffins with Black Pepper & Ginger
makes 12 muffins
1 1/2 cups chopped
pears, cored and peeled before chopping (2 or 3 pears, ripe but firm)
1 cup plain
non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon apple
cider vinegar
2 cups whole wheat
flour
1 1/2 teaspoons
baking soda
1 teaspoon finely
ground black pepper (freshly ground is important)
1 teaspoon ground
allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground
nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher
salt
2/3 cup natural cane
sugar, plus additional 1 tablespoon for sprinkling muffin tops
1/3 cup neutral oil
(I used rice bran oil, but canola, grapeseed, or the like will work)
2 tablespoons finely
grated/microplaned fresh ginger (a generous 2 inch piece)
1 teaspoon vanilla
extract
Pre-heat oven to 400
degrees. Lightly grease a muffin pan and
set aside. In a measuring cup or small
bowl, combine the nondairy milk and vinegar and set aside to sour.
In a medium-size
bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and
salt. In a large bowl, whisk together
the sugar, oil, soured milk, ginger, and vanilla until sugar has mostly
dissolved, about 1 minute. Add the flour
mixture to the wet ingredients and stir briefly until the batter just comes together. Gently fold in the chopped pears, being
careful not to over-mix.
Spoon the batter
into the muffin pan, sprinkle the tops with remaining tablespoon of sugar, and
bake for 20 minutes or until a knife placed in a muffin's center comes out
clean. Be careful not to overbake! Let
muffins rest for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to
cool.
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