These muffins are as decadent as they are light and fluffy. Sweetened by beautifully ripened pears, your bake will stay moist and full of flavour. These are perfect after your savouries at a picnic or wonderful as part of an afternoon tea. If you are looking for some more picnic inspiration see more here.

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Makes: 12 | Cooking Function: varioSpeed: 4D hotAir 160°C / 180 watts Microwave for 15 minutes | Prep: 20 minutes

Person peeling pears

Ingredients

  • 110g unsalted butter
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 100g dark chocolate
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 85g ground almond
  • 35g cocoa, sieved
  • 3 ripe pears

Note: allergens highlighted in bold above.

Method

1. Prepare a 12-hole muffin tin lined with cupcake cases.

2. Melt together the chocolate and butter in a saucepan on the induction hob level 1. Once melted, remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

3. In the meantime, peel the pears and slice them into rounds. Layer these at the base of the muffin cases.

4. Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a mixer bowl and the yolks into a separate bowl. Whisk the whites on a high speed for 6 minutes until stiff peaks have formed.

5. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow colour, then pour in the ground almonds and cocoa while still whisking.

6. Pour the cooled chocolate over the egg and ground almond mix, folding together.

7. One spoonful at a time add the whisked egg whites to the chocolate mix folding everything together with a metal spoon.

8. Fill the muffin cases, place in the oven on varioSpeed: 4D hotAir 160°C/180 Watts for 15 minutes. The mixture should be just firm but look slightly moist.

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