Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes

Cupcakes

1. Pick out 24 really nice walnuts from your packet and set aside for decorating the cupcakes later. Weigh out 50g (1¾oz) of the remaining walnuts and chop finely, or just break them into small pieces with your fingers.
2. Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Put 24 cupcake cases in the holes of a cupcake tin. (See Note 3.)
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar thoroughly, until the mixture starts to look a little bit paler.
4. Add in one egg at a time and stir until each egg is completely mixed in before adding the next one.
5. Add in half the flour and stir gently until just combined. Add in the remaining flour and, again, stir gently until the flour is just combined.
6. Add in the finely chopped walnuts and the strong black coffee and stir just enough to ensure the walnuts are evenly distributed.
7. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases. (I find 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture per cupcake case is about right.)
8. Put the cupcakes in your preheated oven for 13 minutes. After 13 minutes, get them out and check for doneness by pressing the tops. If they make a little crunchy sound, pop them in for two more minutes. If they don’t make a sound when you press the top, they are done. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the cupcake tray.

Icing and Decoration

1. Don’t try and ice the cupcakes until they are completely cold! (They take about 1 hour to cool.)
2. Put the softened butter and sieved icing sugar in a bowl and beat together until smooth. Add in the coffee and beat again until evenly mixed in.
3. Using a regular table knife, smooth a little of the icing onto the top of each cupcake and top with a walnut.