Michelle Darmody: How to bake perfect pear and toffee buns

Michelle Darmody's pear and toffee buns

While you can buy toffee and cut it up into pieces, there is something wonderfully old-fashioned about making your own.

Lately, I have been reading a children’s story to my daughter where the characters trade toffees for spins down a slippity slide. It inspired me to dig out this recipe and make a batch for ourselves.

You will have quite a bit more toffee than you need for the buns; some of it can be chopped and added to the buns but the rest can be wrapped in baking parchment and enjoyed later.

The pears pair well with toffee, they have a sweet earthy flavour and I find that the addition of vanilla to the batter knits the two flavours together. It is good to use firm, ripe pears so they do not go too mushy when baked.

Unless you are lucky enough to live near a fruiting pear tree, most of the pears we eat in Ireland are imported from Europe, and this is the best time of year for them.

There are a few commercial growers cultivating conference and Qtee pears in Ireland and it would be lovely to see this market grow.

Pear & Toffee Buns

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

This recipe usually starts the day before. Making the toffee is the first step and leaving it to firm up overnight is advised.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• For the toffee

• 200g golden caster sugar

• 200mls cream

• 63g room temperature butter, cubed

• For the buns

• 250mls milk

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 100g butter, melted

• 290g self-raising flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 50g porridge oats, and extra for sprinkling

• 85g golden caster sugar

• 2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

• 50g toffee pieces – about a quarter of the recipe above

Method

1. Line an 8 x 12-inch tin with baking parchment.

2. Place the toffee ingredients into a heavy-based saucepan stir and heat gently until combined.

3. Place a thermometer into the saucepan and bring the liquid to a boil until it reaches 140ºC. Do not stir it for this step and take care to prevent any splashes.

4. Remove from the heat and rest for 30seconds before pouring into your prepared tin.

5. You can spread the molten toffee out by rotating the tin over and back so it coats the entire base of the tin.

6. Allow it to set in a cool, dry place overnight.

7. Use a sharp, oiled knife to cut the toffee to size.

8. When ready to make the buns place 12 paper cases into a bun tin.

9. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5.

10. Lightly whisk the milk, vanilla, eggs and melted butter and set aside.

11. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the oats and sugar.

12. Add the milk mixture and combine well.

13. Stir in the pear and toffee pieces.

14. Scoop the mixture between the twelve bun cases and sprinkle with a few oats if you wish.

15. Bake in the centre of your oven for 25 minutes, until risen and golden. You can test after 20 minutes if you feel they are browning too much.

16. Once cool enough to handle, place the buns onto a wire rack to cool.

Baker's Tips

Make sure to line the tin before making the toffee. Once the melting and setting are in motion you will not have time, as toffee firms up quickly.

It is important to use room temperature butter rather than butter straight from the fridge. If it is cold the sugar and cream will heat unevenly which increases the likelihood of separation.

A heavy-based saucepan is necessary because the thick base prevents burning by distributing the heat evenly.

The molten sugar mixture used to make toffee can cause burns, it sticks to your skin and can be very painful. It is best to be very careful and to make it away from young children.

Low-fat butter or butter substitutes will not work for this recipe; you need to use regular butter.

If you do not have a thermometer, you can test your toffee by carefully dropping half a teaspoon of the mixture into iced water, then squeezing the ball that forms to see if it has hardened.

Resting the toffee for 30 seconds allows any bubbles to rise and burst, if you feel you do not have many bubbles in your toffee mixture you can rest it for less time.

Put a chopping board or damp cloth under the toffee tin if you do not want your countertop to heat up – the molten toffee is very hot and the tin will heat up very quickly.

The toffee will keep in an airtight container for about two weeks.

Over-mixing the cake batter will result in tough buns so just combine the pear and toffee gently rather than really stir them in.

The buns will keep for about three days in an airtight container and they can be frozen.

Three delicious variations

Pear and pecan nut buns

Pecan nuts are really nice in this recipe in place of the toffee. I also add the zest of an orange.

Chocolate pear buns

In place of the toffee, you can add 100g of broken dark chocolate. Stir it in with the pear as you would have the toffee.

Apple and cinnamon buns

Adding a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and mixed spices to the flour mixture makes quite a different tasting bun.

You can also substitute apple for the pear. The toffee can be added or omitted depending on your preference.