Christmas Goodies: Baby Christmas cakes

Staying well ahead of the curve, Lois Daish was writing about cupcakes in 1995, including these lovely baby Christmas cakes.

Mixed fruit and nuts, photo Glenn Jeffrey/NZH

I was curious to read in an American book, The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum (William Morrow, 1988), a suggestion to bake a rich fruit cake as cupcakes, for instant baby Christmas cakes. When these cakes are made small, they are as good to eat the same day as they are after a few weeks maturing. A godsend for the cook who can’t quite catch up with Christmas baking. These cakes will lie flat in the paper cases, which subtly indicates that they will be rich and moist. As with all recipes I have tried in this book, I have needed to modify the proportions of ingredients to suit our flour and butter.

BABY CHRISTMAS CAKES

• 175g mixed fruit and nuts, such as currants, raisins, almonds, ginger, cherries
• ¹/₄ cup whisky, brandy or dark rum
• 100g soft butter
• 75g soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp treacle or golden syrup
• 1 egg
• 75g flour
• pinch baking soda
• pinch cinnamon
• 2 tbsp milk

Chop the fruit and nuts coarsely and put in a bowl with the whisky, brandy or rum. Leave to steep for as long as possible. Overnight is best. Turn the oven to 160ºC and place 12 paper patty cups in a muffin tray. Put the soft butter, brown sugar and treacle or golden syrup in a mixing bowl and beat until light, then beat in the egg. Sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon together and beat into the batter with the milk. Beat in the prepared fruit. Scoop batter into 12 paper patty pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cakes are set. They will still be flat and a little sticky on the surface. Remove from the oven and brush a little more whisky, brandy or run over the tops of the cakes. Cook on a rack. Eat straight away or leave to mature for a couple of weeks.

For a festive appearance, you can brush the cakes with a glaze just before serving. Bring 2 tablespoons of apricot jam and a tablespoon of water to the boil in a tiny pot, then push the jam through a sieve. Brush over the cakes while still warm and place a toasted almond on top. Makes 12 baby Christmas cakes.

This recipe first appeared in the Listener on November 4 1995.