Christmas Muffin with Dried Fruits and Nuts

It takes a long time to prepare a Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts, but as a result it will become a real decoration of the festive table. Guests will ask for a cupcake recipe.

Ingredients

• Butter – 350 g
• Eggs – 5 pcs.
• Brown sugar – 350 g
• Flour – 350 g
• Baking powder – 0.5 teaspoon
• Vanilla sugar – 1 teaspoon
• Dried fruits (dried apricots, figs, prunes, raisins) – 500-600 g
• Nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds) – 400 g
• Cognac
• Vegetable oil (for lubricating the mold)
• Powdered sugar (for decoration)

Directions

1. Rinse dried fruits (you do not need to steam with boiling water) and cut into pieces commensurate with raisins. It will be delicious if you also add dried cranberries and cherries to dried fruits, which I do not have today …
2. Chop fresh nuts not too finely.
3. Send softened butter to the mixer bowl, beat for 3-4 minutes at medium speed. Then add sugar and vanilla, beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes.
4. Add flour and baking powder, beat on a low speed so that the flour doesn’t scatter.
5. Without turning off the mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, gradually increasing the speed.

   

6. Mix the dough with nuts and dried fruits.
7. Prepare a baking dish. (Large silicone and tin forms are suitable, but always with a center, otherwise the cake will not bake. You can also bake in small tins, but in this case, the baking time must be reduced.) Grease the pan with vegetable oil and put the dough in it. Use napkins to wipe all the edges of the form so that they do not burn when baking. Send the muffin with nuts and dried fruits to the hot oven. Bake at 180 degrees for 1 hour, do not open the oven during this time.
8. After an hour, check the readiness of the cake with a wooden stick – the inside of the cake will be moist. Reduce the temperature to 160 degrees and set the time for 1.5-3 hours (the time depends on the oven, it takes a very long time in the gas oven). After 1.5 hours, you need to check with a skewer whether the dry cake is inside or not. If it is still wet, continue baking and check the doneness every 30 minutes. The Christmas cupcake is ready when the skewer is dry.
9. Remove the finished cake with dried fruits and nuts from the oven and leave for 5 hours or overnight to cool. After a while, pierce the cake with a skewer through and through over the entire surface.
10. Soak the cake with cognac in the morning and evening during the week. There is no need to soak on the day you serve the cupcake. If you treat children with a cupcake, do not soak it in alcohol – the alcohol will not disappear.

    

11. Remove the cake from the mold.
12. Cut off the bottom to keep the cupcake straight.
13. Sprinkle the icing sugar on the cake.
14. Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts is ready. Bon Appetit!