I must bake this! Luckily we have prickly pears for sale at our markets here, and I can also find them around town on abandoned plants. I think this sounds like it would be very interesting! Maybe for Mothers Day??? Have any of you out west ever tried something like this this???
Prickly Pear Quick Bread
From Jean Groen
About 12 prickly-pear fruits
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Scald pears for 1 minute. Peel, halve and seed them. Scoop out 1 cup fruit.
Heat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Put fruit in a large bowl with melted butter, sugar and eggs. Mix well. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold dry ingredients into fruit mixture and mix until well moistened. Pour into prepared pan and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Place in oven and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (For muffins, divide batter among 12 muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.) Makes 12 servings.
Approximate values per serving: 240 calories, 5 g fat, 42 mg cholesterol, 4 g protein, 45 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 413 mg sodium, 19 percent calories from fat.