Rhubarb Cupcakes

A week of blog posts celebrating my birthday wouldn’t be complete without something cake-related, so I give you a very Minnesotan treat:  Rhubarb Cupcakes. This recipe comes from Taste of Home and was made from rhubarb picked in my own backyard, but according to the recipe works with frozen rhubarb just as well.

While I can eat rhubarb straight from the garden, The Husband is not a big fan so I cut this recipe in half to yield 9 cupcakes. Here’s how I did it:

1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar
1/2 egg (I broke an egg into a cup, whisked it up and measured out half)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh rhubarb

Taste of Home provides very clear instructions that I somehow didn’t follow at all, but I still think the cupcakes turned out yummy. Here’s how you should make them:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Fold in rhubarb.
• Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Frost if desired.

The frosting recipe that I used was the cream cheese filling in these yummy Stuffed Strawberries. A perfect birthday treat for one!