Mini Fruit and Nut Cakes

GLUTEN FREE, GRAIN FREE, DAIRY FREE, SOY FREE, PALEO

These fruit and nut cakes are perfect for any time of the year and can double as delicious mini Christmas ‘puds’ when drenched in warm date caramel.
They are refreshingly light for fruit cake and provide a little relief from the dense and heavy fruit cakes that are more traditional at this time of year.  Don’t get me wrong I love me a good slab of heavy fruit cake (the kind that looks like a stained glass window when cut)…but that kind of cake can leave me feeling a tad ‘waddle-y’ after I’ve already eaten my weight in turkey and truffles.  So I present you these beautifully light mini fruit and nut cakes.  They are truly delicious…and I maaaayyy have just eaten two for breakfast this morning.  It is the eve of Christmas eve after all!

Recipe (makes 12)
100g dried pitted dates, roughly chopped
70g pitted prunes, roughly chopped
70g dried apricots, roughly chopped
50g sultanas
50g cranberries
150ml freshly squeezed orange juice (with pulp)
100ml water
3 eggs, lightly beaten
70g coconut oil (plus extra for greasing)
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 ¼ cup hazelnut meal
1/3 cup tapioca flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 ½ tsp dried and ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried and ground ginger
1 tsp orange zest or 8 drops of orange oil
150g mixed nuts (I used cashews, macadamias and almonds)

Method
Preheat the oven to 160C and generously grease a 12 hole muffin pan with coconut oil.
Place the dried fruit, orange juice and water in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil and immediately turn off the heat. 
Add the bicarb soda to the saucepan and stir to combine.
Now add the coconut oil to the saucepan and stir through until melted.
Place the flours, coconut sugar and spices in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Pour your dried fruit mixture into the mixing bowl along with the eggs and orange zest, stir until evenly combined.
Gently fold through the nuts and evenly spoon the cake mixture into your prepared muffin tray.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean).
Serve up as is with a cup of tea (my hubby tells me these are divine halved and slathered in butter) or serve them warm and engulfed in date caramel.
These are delicious and very much enjoyed either way!