Durian Muffins

I have been wanting to take part in the Muffin Monday (MM02) blog event but was too busy making bread over the past week. I finally managed to find some time to get the main ingredient for my muffins...DURIAN!

The durian season seems to be around already, but there is still no sign of them at the fruit stalls near my place. I was lucky to spot them when I went to the supermarket. This is the first time I bought durians in a ready-packed form. All along I have eaten durians that came with the thick, horny husk. To me, eating durians means you have to do some work before eating the flesh, that is, to pry open the huge fruit with a knife (sometimes a screwdriver can do a better job), and at the same time, guessing whether the flesh will be sweet, bittersweet or bitter. After eating the fruits from the first section, the next fun thing is to open up the various segments, and guessing whether there is any fruit in it. The ready-packed ones that I bought were Thai durians, the flesh were in bright yellow and tasted very sweet. Some people prefer the slightly bitter type, but as for me, I like both :)) For those of you who are have not heard of this fruit, you can read about it here.

I used a banana muffin recipe and replaced the banana with durian pulp. I mixed half of the durian pulp into the batter and filled the middle of each muffin with a spoonful of the remaining durian pulp. In this way, you get to bite into the durian pulp when you reach the centre of the muffins :))

I was rather disappointed when the muffins failed to create the wonderful aroma from the durian while they were baking. There was only a very slight hint of durian fragrance coming from the oven. Apparently, the Thai durians are less fragrant as compared to those from Malaysia. When the muffins were finally cooled enough to handle, I couldn't wait but to try them with my boy. Yes, only one of them likes durian, the other one simply hates it. The taste of the muffins was very good, we liked the soft texture, and the fragrance of the durian was rather dominant. My boy, a durian-lover like me, was squealing with delights, and was actually kicking his legs and fists around after he took the first bite. The next thing he said was to request me to make durian breads, durian cakes, durian cookies and even durian brownies! This really got his brother very upset ;)

Well, I am not too sure about durian breads or cakes, but I will certainly try my hand on a durian choux pastry when the durian season is finally here!


Ingredients:
(Makes 9 muffins)

300g all-purpose flour
100g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
75g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
300g durian pulp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190 degC. Position rack in center of oven. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Melt butter over low heat in a saucepan. Set aside.
3. Separate durian pulp from seeds, mash slightly with a fork and set aside.
4. Add egg to the melted butter. Stir till combine. Add in milk and half of the durian pulp. Stir to combine.
5. In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a spatula or whisk to mix the dry ingredients completely (to prevent having lumps of baking powder/soda).
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. The mixture will appear very lumpy. Do not over mix the batter otherwise the muffins will become tough.
7. Spoon batter into the muffin cups, filling half full. Add 1 teaspoon of durian pulp to each, top with remaining batter. Fill up with the remaining batter to about two thirds full. Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water to prevent warping of the pan or uneven browning of the muffins.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 10 mins in the muffin tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Do not leave the muffins in the muffin tin otherwise the base will be soggy.