Christmas Cake Muffins
Equipment
- Microwave or you can heat the mixture in a pan
- mixing bowl
- Weighing scales
- Measuring Spoons
- Chopping board and knife
- Muffin Tray plus liners
Ingredients
- 250 g dried fruit of choice
- 50 g glace cherries halved
- 75 ml brandy or rum plus 2tbsp. To ‘feed’ you can also use apple juice
- 1 small orange zested and juiced (about 60ml)
- 25 ml water
- 75 g butter chopped in small pieces
- 1 heaped tsp. mixed spice
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 75 g brown sugar
- 25 g ground almonds
- 1 egg
- 100 g wholemeal flour*
- 2 tsp. baking powder*
- 50 g nuts e.g. pecans
Instructions
- Oven 180c and prepare your ingredients.
- Add the dried fruit, cherries, brandy, orange zest and juice and water to a pan or microwaveable bowl. Either heat for 3 mins, or bring to a boil then take off the heat. Add the chopped butter and stir until melted.
- If you have heated the mixture in a pan, pour it into a bowl, then stir in the spices, sugar and ground almonds.
- Set aside whilst you roughly chop the nuts and line a muffin tray with 6 cases.
- Beat the egg into the fruit mixture, ensuring that it is not too hot. Stir in the flour, baking powder and nuts thoroughly. Scoop the mixture into the muffin liners.
- Bake for 25 - 30 mins.
- As soon as the muffins are removed from the oven, drizzle over the 2 tbsp brandy or rum (1 tsp. per muffin)
Notes
A tradition which I have always followed from my lovely nana Eva was to continue ‘feeding’ the cake/s with extra rum/brandy every other day; after all it IS Christmas!
We always prefer ours un-iced but feel free to decorate as wished.
*If wished, you can swap the wholemeal flour and baking powder for just self raising flour