I know this doesn’t look like a cupcake all gloriously puffed and pretty but it is…a cupcake with lots of fruit and the crunch of walnuts. So it’s actually a fruitcake masquerading as a cupcake but it’s moist and so light; almost like a cloud of fruit (not dense and heavy like many fruitcakes can be). It also has very little flour which is there only to give the fruit some structure and hold it together. I guess you could call it healthy because the butter too is restrained. So all in all I would say that it’s a great cupcake to make if you’re longing for something fruity and moist. I made these for my son’s class and so was very conscious of their goodness quotient while choosing a cupcake. The recipe makes a dozen in a jiffy.
Another thing going for this recipe is the layers of flavours that the cake holds – cinnamon, allspice, ginger. When I baked these this morning, my house was filled with apple mists scented with cinnamon and allspice – it was heavenly. The recipe says one or two apples, I used two, you could use one and a half if the apples are large. And yes, I left the peels on. They soften during baking and leaving them on just makes life easier.
Apple Cranberry Cupcake
Ingredients
- 55 g butter
- 1 egg
- 100 g sugar
- Grated rind of 1 large orange
- 125 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
- 140 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp allspice powder
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1-2 dessert apples chopped into small pieces
- 170 g fresh or dried cranberries
- 55 g walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and lightly grease 12 cupcake cases.
- Gently melt the butter over low heat and cool. Beat an egg and whisk the butter into it till combined. Whisk in the orange juice, rind and sugar.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, soda bicarb, baking powder, spices and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the liquid mixture. Mix lightly until just combined. Now tip in the fruits and walnuts and mix (again, do not over mix).
- Fill the cups three quarters full and bake for 20-25 minutes till the tops are golden and a toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
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