Iron Cupcake Earth : Cheese

Here's my 1st entry to Iron Cupcake Earth. The challenge this month is CHEESE.
cream cheese would have been so wonderful and easy and delicious, but I wanted to step it up for my first challenge. It is really fun to be part of such an eclectic and lively bunch of bloggers, and I had a good time researching all the different pairings I considered. I'm super happy with this cupcake- so happy that I ate 8 of them in roughly a 24 hour period.....(i have no will power)
The prizes are posted below! (lots of etsy good things included in the prizes)
Voting does not open until the end of the month.

Honey, Lavender and Roasted Fig Cupcakes adapted from Amy Sedaris Vanilla cupcakes and how to eat a cupcake's measurements for just 12 cupcakes.

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup Lavender Sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
roasted figs cut into sections- see recipe below

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.
3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.
4. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk.
5. Mix in the Honey
6. Mix until batter is smooth with no lumps. Try not to eat the batter directly from bowl...i know its hard not to.
7. Divide batter evenly. Insert a section of the roasted fig into middle of each cup and smooth batter over the top.
8. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Roasted Figs
Preheat oven to 425
Select plump juicy figs- I like the Brown Turkey figs
Slice the stem off and then cut into quarters.
Lay them in a baking dish and sprinkle with lavender sugar* (the quantity of sugar depends on the sweetness of your figs)
and drizzle generously with honey
Roast for 15 minutes
they should come out looking slightly caramelized with a pinkish thick syrup (so good)
* some specialty spice stores carry lavender sugar or you can make it yourself with fresh food grade lavender buds and scooping a handfull into a 2 cups of sugar. cover with lid and just let it hang out for a few weeks. And you can keep it going by just topping it off every now and then. I baked these cupcakes with the sugar unstrained, so there were some speckles of lavender buds in there. But if you'd like you can run the sugar mixture through a seive to strain out the buds- but put the buds back in your sugar container.

Honey and Fig Goat Cheese Frosting
makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes + extra to dip your left over fresh figs in- so delish!

4 oz mild creamy goat cheese
2 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of roasted figs pureed

bring cream cheese and goat cheese to room temperature and whip it up.
Add honey and then mix in powdered sugar
Finally add the fig puree- if you would like your frosting thicker, decrease the amount of fig puree, as the puree does make for more of an oh so delicious glaze than a thick piping frosting.

Iron Cupcake Earth: Cheese Prizes!

ETSY artist ART ON THE MENU with her awesome little cardboard cupcake, her link is: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5738002 and a pair of cupcake earrings from Lots of Sprinkles at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
As an added bonus for October only we have a sassy and sweet T from Bakelove Bakewear, http://www.bakelove.com/cupcake_t-shirt.html. Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; the CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .