Cranberry Orange Madeira Cake Muffins
Cranberry orange Madeira cake muffins are my twist on classic British bake Madeira cake. Synonymous with New Year in Scotland, this is a simple muffin to bake, not too sweet, doesn't need any decorating so ideal for beginner bakers or gifting.
Equipment
- Digital scales or measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Stand/Hand-mixer
- Sieve
- 10 Muffin Paper Cases (or mini bundt cases/tins* - see notes)
- 12-hole Cupcake/Muffin Tin (or mini bundts tin* - see notes)
- Cake release spray, cooking spray (Frylight, Lining Paste/Cake Goop* - see notes)
- Timer
- Wooden Cocktail stick
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 125 grams Butter – unsalted, cubed and softened. (4½ oz, ½ cup)
- 125 grams Caster Sugar (Extra/Super Fine Sugar, 4½ oz, ⅔ cup)* See above
- 3 Medium -Large Eggs (US – Large – XLarge)
- 160 grams Self-raising Flour (5½ oz, 1¼ cups OR Plain/All Purpose Flour + 2 tsp Baking Powder) * See notes
- 35 grams Ground Almonds (1¼ oz, ¼ cup) * see notes
- 2 tsp Orange Extract
- 70 grams Cranberries, whole, fresh or frozen (2½ oz, ¾ cup)
- Zest of 1 Orange (optional)
- 1½ tsp Orange Juice (optional)
Instructions
Prepare Cake Batter
- When the butter is softened & room temperature, add to your mixing bowl with the sugar, use a hand-mixer or stand-mixer & 'Cream' together. Try this video hack for softening butter in 12 minutes.
- Add one egg at a time, 1 tbsp of the flour & mix well in-between each addition. Sieve over the remaining flour (and baking powder if using Plain/A.P. flour), before adding in the ground almonds, orange extract, juice and zest if using. Mix together only until all incorporated and a thick batter is produced.
- Wash the cranberries in warm water before pat drying and coating in 1 or 2 tbsp flour before folding into the batter in 3 increments.
- Heat your oven to 180°c/160°c Fan Oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4.
Prepare Muffin Cases/Tin
- Line a cupcake or muffin tray with paper muffin cases, (do not bake directly into the cupcake/muffin tin). For mini silicone bundt cases, add these to a cupcake tin to help hold their shape. Silicone & metal mini bundt cases should be greased well for easy removal. Use Frylight spray, cooking spray or cake release spray. Homemade lining paste (cake goop) can also be used on metal bundt tins.
Bake The Cake
- Spoon the cake batter into the prepared muffin cases/mini bundt cases, about ¾ full. (See notes on recipe yield.) Give the cupcake tray a few taps on the counter/worktop before popping into the centre of the pre-heated oven.
- Bake for about 17 - 20 minutes, till rise, set, a deep golden colour and a wooden cocktail stick comes out clean of crumbs. My muffins baked off at about 19 minutes with the tray rotated after 10 minutes to ensure even baking. Mini bundts will bake slightly quicker at about 17 minutes for metal bundt tin.
- Please note that silicone mini bundts while fully cooked, once removed from the cases, will be a paler golden shade than the tops of these and the muffins. So You can bake a few more minutes covered, or do so once out of the cases.
- Remove from the oven & place on the cooling rack to cool down for about 5 minutes. After which you can remove the muffins from the cupcake tray and leave to cool down on the cooling rack. For metal tin mini bundts, after 5 minutes, go round the cakes with a cocktail stick and turn the tray over onto a cooling rack, tap the tray and release the cakes. For mini silicone bundts, turn them upside-down and leave to cool upside-down before releasing them.
Serving & Storing
- Serve the muffins just as they are, no decoration required. Mini bundt cakes can be served with some blueberry orange curd in the centre or your favourite jam.
- Store left-overs Madeira muffins & bundt cakes in an airtight container – I use cake tins. Leave in a cool environment & these will last 4 – 7 days. Can be frozen, if individually covered with baking/parchment) paper, then a food bag or airtight container, for up to 3 months2. Defrost overnight in the fridge.
Notes
US/Canadian ingredient equivalents listed in the ingredients section as well as more details before this Recipe Card.
Caster sugar equivalent is Extra/Super Fine Sugar, but you can process some granulated sugar instead. See my UK sugar comparison photo before this Recipe Card.
Ground Almonds substitute is Almond Meal, (not Almond Flour which is too fine). Make your own by bashing whole almonds, skins on, before processing. See my ground almond photo for reference.
Fresh raw, whole cranberries or frozen cranberries both work well. Red plums are a very good alternative, or blueberries.
Red Plum Muffins - use about 2 plums, (initial weight 120g/4¼ oz, chopped weight about 70g/2½ oz), chop very small, wash and flour like the cranberries and hold back 3 pieces per muffin and place these on top of the batter when in the muffin cases for some to stay on the top.
Recipe Yield - makes 10 muffin cakes, or 6 muffins & 6 mini bundt cakes. For regular cupcake sized paper cases, you should get 12 cakes. For all mini bundt cake sized, yield will be 14 – 16 mini bundt cakes. For 12 muffins multiply ingredients by 1.20. For tips, tables and a video, see my Increase A Recipe Article.
Try my Original Madeira Loaf Cake recipe, or with cranberries and orange (photo above)
Try with my Home-made Plum Jam recipe. Or why not try my Lemon Curd or Blueberry Orange Curd like in the blueberry mini bundt below?
Please see the main recipe blog for more information.
Try one of my 3 traditional Scottish shortbread recipes or the Cranberry Orange Pecan Shortbread below.
All cake recipes can be found on my Cake Page. Or jump to the Christmas recipes page.
To rate the recipe or leave feedback, please scroll all the way to the bottom of the main recipe post. Many thanks.
Ground Almonds substitute is Almond Meal, (not Almond Flour which is too fine). Make your own by bashing whole almonds, skins on, before processing. See my ground almond photo for reference.
Fresh raw, whole cranberries or frozen cranberries both work well. Red plums are a very good alternative, or blueberries.
Red Plum Muffins - use about 2 plums, (initial weight 120g/4¼ oz, chopped weight about 70g/2½ oz), chop very small, wash and flour like the cranberries and hold back 3 pieces per muffin and place these on top of the batter when in the muffin cases for some to stay on the top.
Recipe Yield - makes 10 muffin cakes, or 6 muffins & 6 mini bundt cakes. For regular cupcake sized paper cases, you should get 12 cakes. For all mini bundt cake sized, yield will be 14 – 16 mini bundt cakes. For 12 muffins multiply ingredients by 1.20. For tips, tables and a video, see my Increase A Recipe Article.
Try my Original Madeira Loaf Cake recipe, or with cranberries and orange (photo above)
Try with my Home-made Plum Jam recipe. Or why not try my Lemon Curd or Blueberry Orange Curd like in the blueberry mini bundt below?Please see the main recipe blog for more information.
Try one of my 3 traditional Scottish shortbread recipes or the Cranberry Orange Pecan Shortbread below.All cake recipes can be found on my Cake Page. Or jump to the Christmas recipes page.
To rate the recipe or leave feedback, please scroll all the way to the bottom of the main recipe post. Many thanks.
Nutrition Facts
Cranberry Orange Madeira Cake Muffins
Serving Size
1 muffin
Amount per Serving
Calories
269
% Daily Value*
Fat
14
g
22
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Cholesterol
56
mg
19
%
Sodium
24
mg
1
%
Potassium
31
mg
1
%
Carbohydrates
32
g
11
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
18
g
20
%
Protein
4
g
8
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.