Glutenfree buttermilk cupcakes with figs and walnuts and homemade caramel

Some people stress eat, I stress bake. Whenever my head is in overdrive and my body has the jitters, there is just one thing that will calm me: baking. Somehow my mind slows down as I measure ingredients and mix my batter, the fog in my brain clears up and by the time the cupcakes or cake or bread come out of the oven all risen and golden I can see things in perspective again. And as that happens my jitters disappear too. Beats any nerve calming medicine what so ever.  

But lately I've been so busy that I didn't even have time to bake, hence the lack of new blogs and recipes. This also means that a baking session was long overdue for my shattered nerves. Here's the recipe that turned this headless chicken back into a glutenfree momma.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes and two mini-bund cakes as shown above. 

Ingredients:

• 225 grams (8 oz) of fine granulated sugar
• 225 grams (8 oz) of soft unslated butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 225 grams (8 oz) of riceflour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• a pinch of salt
• 225 ml (8 fl oz) of buttermilk
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of figs, finely chopped
• 100 grams (5.5 oz) of walnuts, finely chopped

To make the caramel topping:

• 1 tin (400 ml / 14 fl oz) of condensed milk
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of caster sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of butter

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Line two muffin or cupcake tins with paper cupcake cups en grease the mini-bund cake molds. 
• Mix the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer till it's all light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix till all is blended into one mixture.
• Put the flour, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum into the bowl with the mixture, add the buttermilk and mix again quickly till all is blended. 
• I chopped up the walnuts & figs together in my kitchen aid and kept some walnuts aside (I bought more than the 100 grams) to decorate. 
• Mix in the walnuts & figs and then fill the cupcakecups and the bund cake molds. (It might just make one big yummy bund cake too i think!!)
• Put everything in the oven and bake for 25 minutes till the cupcakes have risen and are all golden and brown.
• While the cakes are in the oven for the last 10-15 minutes, make the caramel topping. Put all the ingredients for the caramel in a pan with a thick base. Put it on a low fire and keep stirring until all the sugar and butter has dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Don't stop stirring now, and let it boil for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat, let the caramel cool a bit and when both the cupcakes, bundcakes and the caramel are cooled a bit pour some of the caramel on the cupcakes and decorate with a walnut or some chopped up walnuts.

Enjoy!