Ingredients
for the Cupcakes
2 cups of all purpose flour
125 grams of unsalted butter
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of chopped figs
for the frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla,
the paste scraped from the inside of one vanilla bean
3 cup confectioners sugar
to garnish
fresh figs, cut as you please
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a small bowl. Add the walnuts and the figs, toss to combine. In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light in color (around 3 minutes). Slowly add the egg yolks. Use a wooden spoon to add the dry ingredient mixture. Mix until just combined. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks, then slowly fold into the cupcake mixture until just combined, making sure to do it lightly and slowly so that the whites don’t break down.
Fill each cup to 3/4 full. Bake the cupcakes for 25-30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make your frosting. In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla and vanilla bean paste until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners sugar a little bit at a time. The frosting may be a little loose, so add a bit more powdered sugar as necessary. Refrigerate to set for 20-30 minutes.
When the cupcakes have cooled down, pipe a swirl on top. Garnish with a fresh fig.
