Fig, Apricot and Pistachio Fruit Cakes

My second Christmas box treat this year was Fig, Apricot and Pistachio Fruit Cakes.  The recipe for these individual fruit cakes came from page 98 of the November 2017 Coles magazine.

The recipe made 4 mini loaves.  Instead, I made 18 cupcake sized cakes.

The recipe was not originally gluten-free, but I made it so by substituting the flour with a commercial gluten-free flour mix.

I really loved this recipe.  With 18 cakes, there was one spare for me to try.  It was so lovely - unlike a traditional fruit cake, it was not at all heavy, and was satisfyingly fruity and nutty.  The marmalade glaze also added a beautiful shine and colour, and a contrasting tart flavour.  

Convinced to make these?  The recipe is as follows:

160g mixed dried fruit (I just used commercial fruit cake mix)
190g dried figs, coarsely chopped
150g dried apricots, coarsely chopped
105g pistachios, chopped
60ml Cointreau
85g orange marmalade
250g butter
220g sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind (I omitted this)
 4 eggs
150g plain flour
150 self-raising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
extra orange marmalade to glaze the cakes

Put all of the dried fruit, pistachios, marmalade and Cointreau in a large non-metal bowl, and stir to combine.  Allow to soak for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line muffin trays with papers (I ended up with 18).

Cream the butter, sugar and orange rind in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.

Add the flours, cinnamon and fruit to the bowl and fold in with a rubber spatula.

Divide the cake batter evenly between the muffin cases using an icecream scoop.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through and golden on top.

Microwave about a quarter of a cup of marmalade for 20 seconds or so to loosen.  Brush the tops of the hot cakes with the marmalade to glaze.  Cool completely in the pans.