Traditional English Christmas cake. Christmas cupcake with dried fruits and nuts - recipes for delicious holiday baking Christmas cupcake with dried fruits from Vysotskaya
What are baumkuchen, stollen, panettone, panforte, roes, piparkukas, kuchiukai? All these are pastries that are traditionally baked in different countries On Christmas. Somewhere it is, in Russia - gingerbread, and somewhere a Christmas cake with nuts and dried fruits. Today we will bake just such a classic cupcake, add a mixture of dried fruits and candied fruits to it. Let's put some nuts. And we get a delicious, all flavored English Christmas cake. And lovers curd baking a crumbly ring with bright candied fruit and nuts awaits. All with photos, step by step.
English Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts
It turns out to be springy and dense, so we take as many as 3 teaspoons of baking powder for the dough for it.
As for dried fruits, candied fruits and nuts, three types of raisins are traditionally put in England: light and dark (from light and green grape varieties), dark (from dark grape varieties), dried cherries, cranberries, dried apricots. Soak them in brandy or rum. I used water in my soaking recipe as the cake was meant for the whole family, including kids. Naturally, if for some reason you do not want to use alcohol, then just soak it in water. But this is a must, even if your fruit does not seem very dry. So any additives used during drying and for storage will at least partially leave them. Nuts are usually hazelnuts and almonds, but you can use whatever is available. The amount of all these ingredients should be no more than 500 grams.
Cake Ingredients:
- a mixture of dried fruits / candied fruits / nuts - 350-500g;
- brandy or cognac - 50 ml (optional);
- eggs - 4-5pcs;
- sugar - 150g;
- butter - 200g;
- vanilla sugar - 1 tsp;
- baking powder for dough - 3 tsp;
- flour - 250-300g.
How to make a Christmas cupcake
- We wash dried fruits under running water. Pour into a bowl hot water. We put dried fruits and leave for 20 minutes. If you use alcohol, then replace it with water.
- After this time, drain the water, put the soaked dried fruits on a paper towel to dry.
- We cut such large fruits as dried apricots, prunes into smaller pieces. We chop the nuts with a knife or pour them into a bag and roll them on top with a rolling pin.
- Cooking dough. Put softened butter in a bowl, add sugar and rub with a spoon.
- We break the eggs. If 4 eggs are large enough, take 5 small ones. Beat with a mixer.
- We put dried fruits and nuts.
- We take 250 grams of flour, first sift it together with baking powder into another bowl, and then add it to our mixture.
- The cake dough is already heavy due to the large number of additives, so in order not to make it heavier with a large amount of flour, you need to look at its consistency. It should be like thick sour cream.
- Traditionally, a large log-shaped mold is used to bake a Christmas cupcake, but portioned cupcakes in silicone molds can also be prepared. The form must first be lubricated butter.
- Put the dough into it.
- We bake a cupcake in an oven heated to 180-200 ° C for 50 minutes. It is better not to open the door during baking. After the specified time, you can get it and check for readiness with a toothpick.
- Let the cake cool in the pan first, then take it out and let it cool completely before you start decorating it.
- The easiest way to decorate is with powdered sugar.
- You can make a frosting with powdered sugar and lemon juice. For this, 2 tbsp. powdered sugar mixed with 4st.l. lemon juice. Add the juice gradually, focusing on the density of the glaze.
- After dusting the Christmas cake with powdered sugar or icing, decorate the miogno with candied fruits, nuts, lemon or orange slices to your liking.
Christmas cottage cheese cake with candied fruit
Unlike the previous recipe, the ring turns out to be oily, but more crumbly. It can be baked not only in the form of a ring, but also in rectangular, round or portion molds. Lubricate the finished ring with warmed jam. According to the recipe, it should be apricot or peach jam, but you can use any other and even jam syrup.
Grocery list:
- cottage cheese - 200g;
- eggs - 2pcs;
- sugar - 200g;
- vegetable oil - 3/4 cup (approx. 190 ml);
- soda - 1/3 tsp;
- flour - 1/2 cup (80g);
- candied fruits + nuts - a handful;
- apricot (peach) jam - 2 tbsp.
How to bake a Christmas cupcake
And our Christmas or New Year's cupcake is ready!
Ingredients:
flour - 225 gr.
butter room temperature- 225 gr.
sugar - 225 gr.
large eggs - 4 pcs.
a pinch of salt
spice mix (cinnamon + ginger + nutmeg) - 3 tsp
a mixture of dried fruits (soaked in 500 ml of cognac) - 600 gr. (I have pears, apples, prunes, dried apricots)
nuts - 200 g (I have walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews)
honey (preferably liquid) - 1 tbsp.
zest of 1 orange (I substituted lemon)
1. To begin with, we soak dried fruits in cognac. At least overnight. I have soaked for a week.
2. On the day of preparation, preheat the oven to 160 ". And send the nuts there on a baking sheet to lightly brown, for 10 minutes.
3. At this time, we cut the dried fruits, which are completely soaked with cognac, into cubes. (do not pour out the remaining cognac, in which the dried fruits were lying, it will come in handy a little later)
when the nuts are browned, add them to the dried fruits
4. Sift flour, add a pinch of salt and spices.
5. Beat butter with sugar, add honey, orange or lemon zest, mix well.
6. Add eggs one by one, add a little flour with each egg, do not stop beating.
The mixture will be a pleasant beige shade and quite airy, similar in texture to sour cream.
7. Add dried fruits and nuts to the mixture and mix well
8. Grease the baking molds with oil. Divide the dough into molds. The dough will rise a little, so don't spread all the way to the top.
9. Send to the oven at 160 "for 1.5 hours. Then reduce the temperature to 130" and continue baking for another 2 hours. Check for readiness with a wooden skewer.
10. We take it out of the oven, let it cool a little in the forms. Then we take it out of the molds and let it cool on a wire rack.
11. We make small holes or holes on the cake (I pierced it with a skewer) and carefully pour the remaining cognac with a spoon so that it gets inside the cake and soaks it.
12. Wrap the cake in baking paper, and then in foil. Store in a tightly closed container. Can be stored for a month. The longer it lies, the more fragrant and denser it will become.
Tell us, what kind of pastries do you make for the New Year holidays?
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A week before baking, soak nuts, dried fruits, candied fruits in cognac or brandy. The recipe indicates 3 types of raisins: light, dark and red, and cherries are candied fruits. Here it is important to follow some rules: - the total amount fruit filling should be 1 kg 400 g -1 kg 500 g (or reduce in proportion to the flour mixture, it should be approximately 1: 1); - do not use fresh or frozen fruits, they will give juice and this will significantly affect the moisture content of the dough; - it is desirable not to change the composition of spices. If the taste of any spice does not suit you or not everything was found, then you can simply do without it (without replacing it with another one). It is necessary to grind all the fruit and nut components if they are larger than 1.5 cm and bring everything to the same size. Butter and eggs should be at room temperature.
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Place fruit, zest and spices in a large bowl. Mix orange juice (or ginger wine) with cognac (or brandy) and pour over fruit. Mix thoroughly - everything should be covered with liquid. Close tightly and leave for a week. Periodically shake the container so that the liquid soaks the filling evenly. The fruit will become soft in texture and there will be no problem cutting the cake. Prepare for the next stage - baking: soak the almonds for the dough in water, peel, dry in the oven or in a pan and chop in a blender.
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A week later, when the fruits and nuts are infused, you can start baking a cupcake. We prepare forms - any, to your taste, and coat with butter, then put baking paper and coat again with butter. Let the edges of the paper protrude 5-7 cm from the top of the mold so that the cupcake does not burn when baking. 1. We measure and weigh all the ingredients according to the recipe and separate the yolks from the proteins. 2. Mix ground almonds, flour, baking powder and spices (optional). 3. Beat the butter, 5-7 minutes, until it becomes a light color. 4. Add sugar, continuing to beat for 7-10 minutes. 5. Add molasses (you can honey) at medium speed. 6. Now we introduce the eggs, whisking. 7. Add the flour mixture all at once, mix for 2 minutes at low speed. 8. Set aside a part ready dough in a separate container, about 7 tbsp.
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9. Add all the fruit ingredients according to the recipe, mix with a spatula. 10. We put the dough in the mold at 2/3, maximum 3/4 of the height. On top we put a few tablespoons of the reserved dough without filling - this is done to prevent the fruit from burning, and level with a spatula. 11. We put the forms with the dough on a baking sheet covered with a silicone mat, and preferably with a thick layer of newspapers, after wrapping the same with a layer of newspapers, in an oven preheated to 135-140 ° C and bake for 3-3.5 hours. The finished cupcake is very beautiful in color . 12. Immediately, while still hot, grease its surface with cognac, without removing it from the mold, wrap it in foil and leave it for 12 hours or overnight. 13. The next day, we take the cake out of the mold and pack it again: in baking paper, in foil, then in a bag and send it for storage. The cupcake should be stored at room temperature (20-25°C) for at least 2 weeks, and preferably 4. Every week we take out the cupcake, grease it with cognac, pack it again, and so every week until Christmas. Decorate to your liking: marzipan, icing or leave as is. Very tasty and fragrant, and most importantly - this is the process of waiting for the holiday and Christmas baking!
Wash dried apricots and prunes and cut into pieces.
Mix dried apricots, prunes, raisins, candied fruits and pour brandy for 10 minutes. Thanks to alcohol, not only the perfection of taste and aroma is achieved, it prevents the dessert from spoiling and drying out. 
Instead of brandy, you can use fruit liqueur, cognac, rum, sherry, Madeira. The amount of alcohol is usually calculated according to the following scheme: for 500 g of dried fruits, you need to take half a glass (100 g) of a strong drink.
Put milk, honey, sugar, chopped butter, spices and vanilla sugar into a saucepan. If desired, you can supplement the list of spices with ground cardamom. Heat the mixture over low heat until boiling. 
Pour the fruit and brandy into the hot mixture. Bring to a boil over high heat. 
Enter baking powder. Mix. 
Pour half of the flour into the hot mixture. Don't forget to sift the flour before working. Everything should be mixed. 
Pour in the nuts. Cool the dough to a temperature of 36-37 degrees. 
Nuts are suitable not only walnuts, but also hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, pine nuts. The result will surprise you with a unique taste if the nuts are pre-fried in a dry frying pan or on a baking sheet in the oven.
Add room temperature eggs to the batter. Mix. It will be better if you add homemade eggs. They have darker yolks, due to which the dough will turn out with a beautiful yellow tint. 
Pour in the remaining flour. 
Stir the dough with a silicone spatula. Fruits and nuts should be evenly distributed throughout the mass. The dough should be warm, sticky, heavy. 
Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper lightly greased with oil. Bake the pastry for about an hour at a temperature of 170-180 degrees. 
Cool the finished cake in the form and, if time permits, wrap in paper for a couple of hours. This will prevent drying out and preserve the pleasant natural smell of the dessert. 
Decorate the Christmas cupcake with icing sugar. It will turn out beautifully if you put a stencil with a pattern on the surface of the product (for example, in the form of snowflakes), sprinkle with powder through a sieve, then remove the stencil. The result is a dark image on a light background. As an option, you can pour melted chocolate over the confectionery delicacy, grease with sweet fudge, marzipan, and jam. 
The cake does not get stale for 5 days, it even becomes tastier when aged. 
The New Year holidays are getting closer and closer, so today we will create a festive New Year mood. In advance, you need to take care of the treat. What is a Christmas or New Year's table without dessert? There are many traditional desserts for this occasion. In England they make pudding, in Italy they bake panforte nut pie, in Germany they cook the traditional Stollen, and in Austria they make Christmas cookies. Today I will bake a Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts. It is simply fabulously tasty and fragrant, and also has a lot of benefits. It can be baked in advance and the longer it is stored and aged, the more fragrant and tasty it becomes.
Ingredients:
- Dried fruits and nuts - 500 - 700 g
- Cognac
- Sugar - 180 g
- Butter - 225 g
- Chicken egg - 4 pcs.
- Wheat flour - 300 g
- Baking powder - 10 g
- Vanillin - to taste
Recipe for Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts
From dried fruits, I take dates, raisins, figs, prunes, dried cherries and dried cranberries in an arbitrary amount. From nuts, a handful of almonds and hazelnuts. I make a Christmas cake with dried fruits soaked in cognac, so before preparing the dough, I prepare dried fruits and nuts. I fill them with cognac and leave for a few days. They will absorb cognac, and pastries will have a dizzying aroma. Before pouring, it is necessary to rinse them under running water, free from stones if any, dates for example. Raisins sometimes come across small tails, it is also desirable to get rid of them. Then put them on a sieve and let the water drain. Then put in a container and pour cognac. They insisted on me for 5 days, but a couple of days is enough.
Next, beat the softened butter with sugar, then continuing to beat, add the eggs one at a time. Add each subsequent egg after the previous one is completely beaten.
From the total amount of flour I take 2 tbsp. for rolling dried fruits. Sift the rest of the flour along with the baking powder and vanilla.
Add the sifted flour to the egg-butter mixture and mix the dough gently from bottom to top. I combine dried fruits with deferred 2 tbsp. flour and mix. Then I mix them into the dough.
I decided to bake a Christmas cupcake aged in a round shape, so I used a regular ladle. You can take a foil cake pan, it is also very convenient. I grease the baking dish with butter. If you're unsure about the non-stick properties of a baking dish, line it with parchment paper.
I spread the dough into a mold. I heat the oven to 180 degrees, then lower the temperature to 160 degrees. I set the cake to bake for 1.5 hours. I check its readiness with a splinter.
Now I need it to cool down, then I wrap it with parchment and more foil. After that, I put it in a cold place for storage. Cake with dried fruits and nuts, the longer it sits, the tastier it will be.
When it's time to serve our dessert to the table, it remains to decorate it with icing and decorate. For the glaze, I mix 100 grams of powdered sugar with the juice of half a lemon. If it seems to be runny, I add a little more powder. You can also buy it ready-made, now there is a glaze of different colors on sale. Before applying to the cake, it is recommended to warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds.
I put it on the cake icing sugar and decorate to my liking. Christmas tree branches can be imitated with rosemary leaves. I add mandarin slices, cranberries and a little decorative confectionery topping. Christmas cupcake with dried fruits and nuts and I hope you liked this recipe and want to repeat it. Bon appetit!