Mini Dundee Cakes; an ode to Scotland in a little light fruitcake full of spice and orange flavour, with a sweet marmalade maple glaze!
Scotland the brave, Scotland the drunk, Scotland the fat. Call us what you want, we’re proud anyway.
I’ve lived in Aberdeen, Scotland my whole life. In adolescence, as much as I felt I’d been born in the wrong place, meant for so much more (didn’t we all?), I’ve learned to like my home in the granite city, and ultimately in Scotland.
We’re a hardy nation, full of people with great humour, increasingly progressive politics, and an unflinching ability to use the word “c*nt” in an endearing manner in every other sentence. Plus almost every shop stocks whisky and shortbread to some extent so what more could you possibly need in life?
These little Mini Dundee Cakes are an ode to my homeland, though admittedly not my home city, and are a perfect nod to Burns’ Night on Wednesday, the day we celebrate our national bard’s birthday. Traditionally, a Burns’ supper consists of a main course of haggis, neeps and tatties with a dram of Scotch whisky, followed by a dessert of clootie dumplings, cranachan or tipsy laird. While I will be making a haggis spaghetti bolognese this week (don’t knock it til you try it), I felt I’d go with something a little less common for a Burns’ sweet.
Dundee Cakes are usually a tea-time cake, and are usually great big things that you buy wrapped in clingfilm from a farm shop. These Mini Dundee Cakes with Marmalade Maple Glaze are a little more aesthetically pleasing, and can be enjoyed as a snack or a little dessert! Unlike other heavy traditional fruitcakes, these Mini Dundee Cakes are light, fluffy but still crammed with mixed fruit, spices and zesty orange flavour, all topped off with a deliciously sticky glaze. Oh aye.
The best part about these cakes is that they are so easy to make, a simple all-in-one cake mix with some fruit stirred through! They will also keep very well, and common opinion seems to be that they taste best after a few days, once the flavours have developed.
To make these Mini Dundee Cakes, you’ll first need to preheat your oven and line a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, measure out some butter, sugar, eggs, flour, mixed spice, orange zest, whisky and ground almonds.
Use an electric whisk or just a good old wooden spoon to beat everything together thoroughly until smooth and combined, this should take no more than 4 minutes. Easy peasy, and no faffing around with creaming or folding anything!
In a small bowl, toss the mixed dried fruit in a sprinkle of flour, just enough to coat it, this prevents the fruit from sinking. I used one of those bags of mixed dried fruit you can buy from the supermarket, you can anything; raisins, currants, sultanas, candied peel, cranberries, dates, etc.
Add the coated fruit to the cake mixture along with a sprinkling of ground almonds and stir to incorporate.
Use an ice cream scoop or a couple of spoons to plop your mixture evenly among the 12 liners in your tin.
Top each little cake with some whole almonds arranged however you like.
Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden, risen and firm to touch. A skewer inserted into the centre of a cake should come out clean once they are fully baked.
Once baked, remove the tin from the oven, and make up the Marmalade Maple Glaze while the cakes are cooling.
In a small bowl, mix together the marmalade and maple syrup and use a little pastry brush or the back of a teaspoon to glaze the top of each little cake while they’re still warm. You might not have to use all of the glaze.
Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 5-10 minutes before removing them and allowing them to cool completely on a wire rack.
That’s it! You can enjoy these cakes cool as a tea-time treat, or warm them up and serve them with cream or custard as a little dessert! Even those who aren’t into fruitcake might be more tempted by these little beauties, as they don’t have any of that dense stodginess or strong boozy burn that some fruitcakes normally have.
Have a great day, I’ll be back soon with another yummy recipe!
Scroll down for the full recipe to make these cute Mini Dundee Cakes.
Mini Dundee Cakes with Marmalade Maple Glaze
Mini Dundee Cakes; an ode to Scotland in a little light fruitcake full of spice and orange flavour, with a marmalade maple glaze!
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: Feel free to use whichever dried fruit you like, you could even sex it up with some chocolate chips if you like! Enjoy these cakes with a cup of tea, or warm them up a little and enjoy as a little dessert with cream or custard!
Ingredients
For the cakes:
- 150g (10 tbsp) soft butter or margarine
- 130g (¾ cup) soft light or dark brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 220g (1 ¾ cups) self-raising flour
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 tbsp whisky, gin or spiced rum
- 2 tbsp ground almonds/almond flour
- 400g (2 ⅔ cups) mixed dried fruit (such as raisins, sultanas, currants, candied peel, dates etc)
- Handful of whole almonds
For the glaze:
- 2 tbsp marmalade
- 2 tbsp maple or golden syrup (or 1 tbsp of syrup and 1 tbsp of water, if you don't mind the bitterness of marmalade)
Instructions
For the cakes:
- Preheat your oven - 180 C / 160 C fan / 350 F / gas mark 4 - and line a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, measure out your butter, sugar, eggs, flour, mixed spice, orange zest, whisky and ground almonds.
- Use an electric whisk or just a good old wooden spoon to beat everything together thoroughly until smooth and combined, this should take no more than 4 minutes.
- In a small bowl, toss the mixed dried fruit in a sprinkle of flour, just enough to coat it, this prevents the fruit from sinking.
- Add the coated fruit to the cake mixture along with the ground almonds and stir to incorporate.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a couple of spoons to plop your mixture evenly among the 12 liners in your tin.
- Top each little cake with some almonds arranged however you like.
- Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden, risen and firm to touch. A skewer inserted into the centre of a cake should come out clean once they are fully baked.
For the glaze:
- In a small bowl, mix together the marmalade and syrup and use a little pastry brush or the back of a teaspoon to glaze the top of each little cake while they're still warm. You might not have to use all the glaze.
- Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 5-10 minutes before removing them and allowing them to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Enjoy!
Delicious – thank you.
You’re very welcome, thanks for trying them, glad you enjoyed!