Pecan Muffins in Blood Orange Syrup

Preheat fan-forced oven to 170 degrees centigrade. Grease a muffin tray with 12 holes.

Muffins;.

Whisk egg whites and a pinch of the white sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl, add zest of 1/2 blood orange and remainder of the sugar to the egg yolks. Whisk with an electric mixer till the yolks turn a pale yellow colour.

Chop pecans in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

Fold pecans, flour and semolina flour into egg whites. Fold yolk mixture in gently to combine. Fold gently to keep fluffiness in mixture.

Spoon mixture evenly into muffin tray and cook in preheated oven for 18 minutes.

Syrup:.

Add zest of 1 blood orange, the white sugar, orange and blood orange juices to a heavy based saucepan.

Cook on high heat, stir to dissolve sugar. Cook until it comes to a boil.

Turn heat to low and simmer gently until it thickens slightly (about 8 minutes). Set aside.

Garnish:.

Whip cream until stiff. Fold honey through the cream.

Make 12 blood orange segments by cutting each orange into 6 pieces and remove the skin.

Serving:.

Take muffins out of oven and run a small spatula around each muffin to ensure they are not stuck to the pan.

While syrup and muffins are still hot, pour 2 small ladles of syrup over each muffin while they are still in the muffin tray, reserving 125ml for serving.

Serve one muffin with a tbsp of the whipped cream and honey mixture and a blood orange segment. Drizzle with 1 tbsp reserved syrup.