fabulous feijoa muffins

Photo: feijoa feijoa

These quick, easy and delicious muffins are from Marvellous Muffins by Alison Holst (Hyndman Publishing, 1994). The orange zest gives them a little zing and I chopped the feijoa a little on the chunky side so I could really taste the fruit. The crunchy sugar topping is just delicious. The proof was in how quickly my little boy devoured two of them.

FABULOUS FEIJOA MUFFINS

Ingredients

• 75g butter, melted
• 1 cup finely chopped feijoa flesh
• 2 large eggs
• finely grated rind of 1 orange
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Method

1. Heat oven to 210°C (200°C fanbake), with the rack just below the middle.
2. Heat the butter in a large bowl until it is liquid.
3. Halve the feijoas and scoop out the central part with a teaspoon. (Muffins are nicest if you do not use much of the firmer outer shell.)
4. Chop feijoa into pieces no bigger than peas. Pack into cup measure, then mix this into the melted butter with a fork.
5. Add the unbeaten eggs, orange rind, and the juice of the orange (made up to volume with a little lemon juice if necessary). Mix until everything is combined.
6. Mix the sugar and self-raising flour in another container. Sprinkle it over the egg mixture, then fold it in without overmixing. (If you have used too much firm feijoa flesh you may need to add a little extra juice or milk to reach usual muffin consistency.)
7. Divide the mixture between greased muffin pans.
8. Mix the cinnamon and second measure of sugar, and sprinkle it on the muffins.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the centres spring back when pressed.

Variation: For Raspberry and Feijoa Muffins, add an extra ¼ cup of sugar and fold in 1 cup of frozen raspberries.