Dundee Scottish Christmas Cupcake

Scottish cake “Dundee” (English Dundee Cake) – one of the variants of the traditional pound cake, popular in many countries, which is customary to bake and age for a long time before Christmas. This recipe makes a cake with raisins, dried cranberries, almonds and lemon that does not exactly repeat the authentic Dundee Christmas cake with a Seville orange, but is similar, and it also turns out to be very fragrant and with a rich range of flavors. It will become not only an exquisite treat on the festive table, but also a wonderful gift.

Ingredients

• Butter (softened) – 200 g
• Eggs (category C1) – 4 pcs.
• Sugar – 180 g
• Almond flour (or peeled almonds) – 50 g
• Wheat flour – 250 g (2 cups with a capacity of 200 ml) + 2 tablespoon. heaped spoons (for rolling
• dried fruits)
• Dark raisins – 150 g
• Light raisins – 150 g
• Dried cranberries – 100 g
• Almonds – 100 g
• Lemon – 1 pc.
• Rum or cognac – 70 ml
• Vanilla sugar – 1 teaspoon
• Baking powder – 0.5 teaspoon (no slide)

Directions

1. Get started with dried fruits. This is best done the night before or a couple of days before making the cake.
   Combine light and dark raisins with cranberries in a bowl. Fill with hot water and leave for 5-10 minutes.
2. Place dried fruit in a colander or strainer and let the water drain. Then dry them additionally on paper towels.
3. Transfer the dried fruit to a jar or other container with a lid and fill with alcohol (I used rum, but cognac or bourbon will do). Close the jar with a lid and let the dried fruit brew. Dried fruits should be infused for at least 2-3 hours, and it is better to leave them overnight or longer, so that they absorb all the rum (or brandy). From time to time, the container with soaked dried fruits should be shaken so that the alcohol is absorbed evenly.
4. Also prepare the almonds in advance if they are unpeeled. Pour boiling water over it and leave for 5-10 minutes.

   

5. After boiling water, drain, and peel the nuts themselves. Let the nuts dry completely.
6. Place the softened butter in a whipping bowl and add vanilla sugar to it. Whisk for a minute.
7. While whisking, add all the sugar in small portions. After adding all the sugar, beat the butter for another 1-2 minutes.
8. Break the eggs into a deep bowl and shake lightly with a fork.
9. Add the eggs to the butter in small portions, whisking constantly. Add each new serving of eggs only after the previous one has completely intervened in the mass.
10. Using a fine grater, remove 1 teaspoon of zest from the lemon (only the yellow part). Then squeeze 2 tablespoon of the lemon. spoons of juice.

    

11. In a bowl of butter-egg mixture, add lemon zest and juice, as well as almond flour (if ready-made flour is not on hand, take 50 g of peeled almonds and grind them into flour using a coffee grinder). Beat the mixture for a minute.
12. Add sifted wheat flour with baking powder and stir until smooth.
13. Throw the dried fruit on a sieve and let the remaining alcohol drain. Sprinkle them with flour and stir.
14. Add the dried fruit mixture to the dough.
15. Stir well with a spatula so that the dried fruits are evenly distributed in the dough.
16. Line a 20 cm dish with baking paper and fill with dough. Smooth the surface with a spatula.

    

17. Place the peeled almonds on top. Bake the fruitcake in a preheated 150 ° C oven for about 90 minutes. Baking times may vary, so be sure to check the readiness with a skewer – it should come out of the center of the cake without traces of batter. If the cupcake is browned on top during baking and is still soggy inside, cover it with foil.
18. Remove the finished cake from the oven and let it cool completely on the wire rack.
19. When the cake is completely cool, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature (19-21 ° C) for at least 1-2 days – during this time, the dried fruits will give the dough moisture and aroma. But traditionally the Dundee Christmas cake is kept for up to 1.5-2 months.
20. If there is no time, cut the cake without aging, but at least 8 hours after cooking.