Date and Apricot Muffins

You could ice these date and apricot muffins with a swirl of caramel icing. Or you could serve them hot, drizzled with some caramel sauce for dessert  with whipped cream and strawberries. But I rather like them just as they are with a coffee or tea.

I left the  dried fruit  to soak overnight in the chai infused water . By morning they had soaked up almost all the liquid  so they were very moist and there was hardly any liquid left so I didn't need to drain them.

These muffins are not too sweet or too spicy . I really like the combination of dates and apricots.

Makes 9 cup cakes

Ingredients

150 ml of hot water
1 tea bag ( I used chai)
50 gm of apricots ( chopped)
50 gm of stoned dates roughly chopped
150 gm of self rasing flour
1 teaspooon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 tablespoon of golden syrup
50 gm of brown sugar
2 large eggs ( lightly beaten)
1-2 tablespoons of grated orange rind
50 gm of butter( melted)

Method:

Add the apricots, dates , and teabag to the water and bring to the boil in a saucepan,
Remove from the heat and soak and cool.
Sift the flour and baking powder  into a bowl.
Drain the dried fruit if it hasn't soaked up all the liquid
Add the fruit and all the other ingredients to the flour and mix together
Divide the mixture into paper cases ( or use a slicone cup cake mold)
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 190 degrees C  or until a skewer inserted into a cupcake centre comes out clean