I'd been planning to make this cupcakes for a while, inspired by a gift of fig preserves, the name sealed the deal. I've seen a lot of chatter on food blogs lately around figs, its put me in a fig mood. Several failed attempts to procure fresh figs derailed me for a couple of weeks. Wegman's the go-to for all things upscale had sold out early in the day. A friend at work brought me a couple from his neighbor's fig tree mid-week, but I didn't have time turn them into cupcakes, so I ate them (and they were good!) I picked up several Korean Figs at the international market, but the taste was just not the same as traditional figs. Not bad, just different, not what I was looking for. I was just about ready to forget the fresh figs and use dried when I stumbled across the last two baskets in a new organic market in my neighborhood. This recipe triples the fig-iness with fresh, dried and preserves. Lots of good feed back too.
Makes 32 cupcakes
1 c canola oil
2 c AP flour
1 t baking soda
1 1/2 c sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t nutmeg
1 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla
1 c fig preserves
1 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c chopped fresh figs
1/2 c chopped dried figs, (kitchen shears make this sticky job easy)
Preheat oven to 350. Line the wells of cupcake pans with liners, set aside. Combine flour, sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set aside.
In bowl of standing mixer add oil and gradually add flour alternating with buttermilk an vanilla. Mix until combined. Add fig preserves and mix well. Stir in figs and nuts. Fill cupcake pans 3/4 full, bake 20 minutes until pick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
1/2 c soft goat cheese
1/2 c soft cream cheese
1/2 c soft butter
3 c powdered sugar
1 t cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 T cream
Combine cheeses and butter in bowl of standing mixer, whip until combined. Add salt and cinnamon, beat well. Add sugar in three increments, beating well between each addition. Add cream until frosting reaches desired consistency. Turn mixer to high beat for 2 minutes.
Frost cooled cupcakes with generous amount of frosting. This frosting did not pipe well. Top with a chunk of fig.
3 comments:
Joyce - you are a cupcake genious and I'm in heaven baking up these amazing goodies. Actually I feel like a kid again with each tasty morsel. I made these figgy cupcakes for a ladies evening and then were a hit, even for those who loath figs. They were moist with the perfect balance of fig and spice. The goat cheese frosting was amazing and some of the sugar crystals carmelized on the top of the cakes leaving a scrumptious little crunch on each top. I'm in love again with figs and cupcakes! Thank you Joyce!
Joyce,
You've brought a new love in my life for cupcakes again and I am so excited to try more of your recipes. They were the perfect combination of moist sweet cake, spice, nut, and cheese. These jewels have perfectly balanced sweetness with a little carmelized crunch and satisfaction in each bite. Everyone was transformed with happiness and pure enjoyment into cupcake heaven! Even those who did not like figs enjoyed these treats. I wasn't able to get my hands on fresh figs but these were flawless. Thank you for such reliable recipes and yummy goodiness! You are my new hero!
I'm so glad you enjoyed them.
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