Fruit mince muffins with eggnog icing

Eggnog is not part of Brazilian Christmas celebrations but everything I’ve made so far flavored as the drink turned out delicious, the sablé rounds and Flo Braker’s cake being my favorites –therefore, I bookmarked Rachel Allen’s muffins the minute I saw them on the book. This fantastic recipe is a keeper, not only because the delicious muffins match eggnog and fruit mince, flavors I love, but also because Allen’s homemade fruit mince is very tasty and easy to make – so good that I used it in my brownies, too.

Fruit mince muffins with eggnog icing
slightly adapted from the wonderful Cake (mine was bought here)

Muffins:
150g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 quantity fruit mince, cooled - recipe here
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

Icing:
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon corn starch
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brandy
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
½ teaspoon finely grated nutmeg
12 dried cranberries, for decoration (optional) – if you decide to use them, place them in a small bowl with some hot water till they plump up

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F, and line a 12-hole (1/3 cup-capacity cavities) muffin pan with paper cases.
Muffins: using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla, then the cooled fruit mince. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and fold in gently to combine. Divide between the muffin cases, filling each ¾ full, then bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen, golden on top and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes then carefully remove from the pan and transfer to the rack. Cool completely.

Icing: whisk together all the ingredients and place in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until it starts to boil and becomes thick, then remove from the heat and put through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, whisk continuously for a few minutes until the mixture has cooled and become very thick (after doing that, I refrigerated the icing for 30 minutes and it became easier to spread). Spoon the icing onto the muffins and decorate each with a dried cranberry.

Makes 12