The last of the figs on the tree were just plucked, so I made some into cupcakes. After some trial and error, I created a delicious, rich cupcake. Strong spices like cinnamon and clove benefit from the whiskey’s complimentary flavor and complexity.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 cupcakes |
Ingredients
- ½ cup fresh figs, finely chopped
- ½ cup whiskey
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco®)
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Soak figs in whiskey in a bowl for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cream of tartar, and cloves in a bowl.
- Blend white sugar, oil, and brown sugar together in a separate bowl using an electric mixer. Add egg and mix until creamy. Mix in buttermilk and vanilla extract. Reserve 1 tablespoon of fig mixture for frosting, and mix remainder into batter. Beat in flour mixture until just combined.
- Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to wire racks to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- Beat cream cheese and shortening together in a bowl using an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar slowly, 1 cup at a time, until creamy. Add vanilla extract. Slowly drizzle in reserved fig mixture; mix frosting until combined.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
- Because I want the cream cheese to be the dominant flavor, I do not use butter for this frosting. Crisco(R) (or any vegetable shortening) has a neutral flavor.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 589 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 81 g |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 264 mg |
| Sugars | 66 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The flavour is very interesting! I just tried one warm from the oven with a bit of butter and it was very good. I think the cream cheese icing will go perfectly.
These turned out fantastic! Great flavors, very unique and moist. I cheated on the icing, used a full tub of cream cheese icing but still beat in the fig mixture….plus a little extra bourbon for more of a kick for card night. Will have to do these every fig season! Thank you so much for sharing