Black Walnut Cupcakes

Black Walnut Cupcakes

This week I'm traveling! I had to borrow a friend's kitchen, and I'm always a little out of my depth when I'm not in my own baking stuff. So I picked a really easy recipe (one bowl) that can be topped with an ice cream of your preferred flavor.

Cupcakes:

1/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup cake flour (or regular flour, sifted three times)

2/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream shortening and sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs one by one. Sift together flour, baking soda, and nutmeg in a bowl, then add to batter alternating with buttermilk. Add in walnuts and vanilla.

Fill cupcake tins about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes, turn, bake for 15 minutes. 

Makes 14.

While cupcakes are still warm, remove from wrappers and top with a scoop of ice cream (I used cookie dough at the request of a housemate). The subtle crunch of the walnuts contrasting with the fluffy cupcakes is a great texture, and the ice cream kind of gets everything soggy in a delicious way.

Adapted from Cooks.com.