These ‘Muscovado Dates & Walnuts Cupcakes’ can be baked in the oven or even microwaved. But the result is best when steamed. When soft batter is steamed instead of baked, the cupcakes become very soft and tender. That’s why I often love to steam. It’s quicker, too.

However, when I took this photo, I did realise that I definitely need a bigger steamer. Every time I steam buns and cakes, they end up in squashed triangular shape because ‘3’ is the maximum number of cupcake cases to fit into my steamer. To avoid this, you can use tea cups OR ramekins instead of paper cupcake cases.

Makes

6 to 8 Cakes

Ingredients

Self-Raising Flour 1 cup
Muscovado (Dark Brown Sugar) 1/2 cup *lightly packed
Egg 1
Canola Oil 2 tablespoons
Milk 1/2 cup
Walnuts 1/2 cup *coarsely chopped
Dried Dates 1/2 cup *coarsely chopped

Method
  1. Place Flour and Muscovado in a large bowl and mix well. Break up the Muscovado lumps.
  2. Add all other ingredients and mix well. *Note: You can save some Walnuts for topping.
  3. Place some cupcake cases in steamer and spoon the mixture into the cases. My steamer is small and only 3 cupcake cases fit in. It might be difficult to cook all the buns at once.
    *Note: Because the batter is very soft, you need strong cupcake cases. The cakes will expand double in size, the cupcake cases need to be strong enough to support.
  4. If you have saved some Walnuts, scatter some on top of each cake.
  5. Pour water into the steamer pan and bring to the boil over high heat. Place the steamer that contains the cupcake cases filled with batter over the steaming pan, cover with lid and cook for 15 minutes.
  6. Repeat with remaining batter. Enjoy warm or cold.