These beautiful Christmas pudding muffins are a gorgeous, festive treat to get you in the Christmas spirit, with plenty of fruit in the light, flavourful sponge, and a delicious spiced rum flavour to the creamy frosting.
They're wonderfully fruity and just a little bit naughty - adapted slightly from a recipe sent in by the amazing Helen from The Crazy Kitchen.
Here's what to do to make twelve delicious Christmas pudding muffins.
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 150 g (5.29 oz) dark soft brown sugar
- 50 g (1.76 oz) dried cherries
- 50 g (1.76 oz) sultanas
- 50 g (1.76 oz) raisins
- 1 orange zest, finely grated
- 1 lemon zest, finely grated
- 150 ml (5.07 floz) sunflower oil
- 3 medium free range eggs
- 1 large cooking apple coarsely grated
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 150 g (5.29 oz) self raising flour
- 50 g (1.76 oz) ground almonds
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For the frosting
- 250 g (8.82 oz) icing sugar
- 125 g (4.41 oz) butter softened
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) mixed spice
- 2 tbsp sprinkles
Equipment
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C/355F (160C/320F fan). In a large bowl, add the sugar, cherries, sultanas, raisins, orange zest and lemon zest.
Add the oil, eggs, apple and rum and mix well.
Add the flour, almonds, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and cinnamon to the bowl and mix through.
Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin cases and share the batter evenly between them.
Bake for approx 20 minutes, until spongy to touch. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a bowl beat the butter, icing sugar, rum, cinnamon, vanilla and mixed spice together until pale, smooth and creamy.
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Finish off with sprinkles, if you like.
Enjoy!
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Christmas pudding muffins with spiced rum frosting
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 150 g (5.29 oz) dark soft brown sugar
- 50 g (1.76 oz) dried cherries
- 50 g (1.76 oz) sultanas
- 50 g (1.76 oz) raisins
- 1 orange zest, finely grated
- 1 lemon zest, finely grated
- 150 ml (5.07 floz) sunflower oil
- 3 medium free range eggs
- 1 large cooking apple coarsely grated
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 150 g (5.29 oz) self raising flour
- 50 g (1.76 oz) ground almonds
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For the frosting
- 250 g (8.82 oz) icing sugar
- 125 g (4.41 oz) butter softened
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) mixed spice
- 2 tbsp sprinkles
Instructions
To makes the sponges
- Preheat the oven to 180C/355F (160C/320F fan). In a large bowl, add the sugar, cherries, sultanas, raisins, orange zest and lemon zest.
- Add the oil, eggs, apple and rum and mix well.
- Add the flour, almonds, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and cinnamon to the bowl and mix through.
- Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin cases and share the batter evenly between them.
- Bake for approx 20 minutes, until spongy to touch. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
To make the frosting
- Meanwhile, in a bowl beat the butter, icing sugar, rum, cinnamon, vanilla and mixed spice together until pale, smooth and creamy.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
- Finish off with sprinkles, if you like.
Video
Nutrition
I'm off to eat some more - purely for research purposes, you understand. Are you tempted to try these delicious Christmas pudding muffins at home?
Pin these Christmas pudding muffins
More great Christmas bakes to try
For more festive baking goodness, try these delicious recipes.
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Michele says
Mmmm! These muffins sound wonderful. I'm in love with that spiced rum frosting! This is perfect for a holiday brunch or dessert!
Emily Leary says
Thank you! I'll definitely be making more batches of these delicious muffins for the festive season. I hope you enjoy them if you give them a go :)
Michelle - The Last Food Blog says
Oh, these look perfect! And that rum frosting? Yes please! Will definitely be adding these to our Christmas baking list.
Emily Leary says
Thanks Michelle. That's great to hear - I'm sure you won't be disappointed :)
lauren says
These look so delicious! I love the rum laced frosting paired with the dried fruits in the cake. It certainly sounds like a winning combo.
Emily Leary says
Thanks Lauren :) They taste as good as they look! I hope you enjoy them if you decide to give them a go!
anne lawton says
These cupcakes look delicious and so festive too! So many tasty ingredients in them,
Emily Leary says
Thank you! These Christmas pudding muffins are indeed so delicious. I hope you give them a try :)
Ruchi says
Olala, spiced rum frosting! This must the most delicious part, at least for me:)
Emily Leary says
I know just what you mean :) The frosting is delicious, but then so is the fruity sponge! Enjoy!
Nicole says
These are gorgeous and I always enjoy looking at awesome food photography.
Emily Leary says
Thanks Nicole! I love baking for the festive season and I hope you give these Christmas pudding muffins a go - they're really delicious :)
Kiki Johnson says
Oh my god, how cute are these and the sound of that cinnamon rum frosting got me drooling! Cannot wait for Christmas to come! These are on my wishlist!
Emily Leary says
Thanks Kiki! These gorgeous muffins went down a treat with my friends and family - I hope you enjoy them as much as we do :)
Sherri says
These gorgeous muffins just scream CHRISTMAS to me! The flavors inside and that decadent frosting...drooling! Now I want to eat one, listen to Christmas music and wrap some presents! :)
Emily Leary says
Thank you Sherri! I'm so pleased you like this recipe and that you give these delicious muffins a go :)
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
These muffins sound so good for the holiday! I think I would just eat the rum frosting with a spoon ;)
Emily Leary says
Thank you :) I agree, the frosting is SO delicious, but then so are the muffins!
michelle twin mum says
They look divine, I really love the sound of the spiced run frosting. Mich x
Emily Leary says
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them as much as my friends and family! I'd love to hear if you give them a try :)
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli says
What an absolutely fantastic idea these Christmas pudding cupcakes! Love that sponge with all the spices and dried fruit, and also love the rum frosting!!
Emily Leary says
Thank you so much! I'm so pleased that you like this recipe :) I'd love to hear if you give these delicious Christmas pudding muffins a try!
Kelly Anthony says
These are stunning! I love the colors :) And they're so perfect for Christmas! Bring on the spiced rum! Ha!
Emily Leary says
Thank you so much! I hope you give them a go - they're so yummy!
Anna | Once Upon A Food Blog says
I love Christmas pudding but for me it's a Christmas Day only thing (although I'm always relieved when there's some left over to finish off over the next few days!). So anything that tastes of Christmas pudding but is not the actual thing is a real bonus for me. It means I get all the gorgeous flavour without spoiling the Christmas day treat! I might try brandy instead of rum in the icing though as I absolutely love brandy butter!
Emily Leary says
I agree! There's all the delicious flavours of a Christmas pudding but there's still an actual pudding to look forward to on Christmas day! Enjoy!
Emily Leary says
Going to have a baking day, and give these a go! Thanks Emily! :D
Emily Leary says
Hi Cora. I'm sure you'll enjoy these tasty muffins with their delicious spiced rum frosting - they're perfect for the festive season :)
Jenny Leonard says
I actually had these cupcakes at a Church fair last weekend and they were the most delicious thing ever, so I'm delighted you have not only named them, but also shared the recipe! Thank you to you both - they are absolutely gorgeous and will certainly be on my table for my Christmas party in 2 weeks. I hope I do you proud... :)
Emma @mummymummymum says
ooooh they look very yummy. x
HELEN says
ahh thanks Emily...they look great & I'm glad you enjoyed them....now you need to drink the rest of that rum!
x