That is what I say whenever I am offered the choice between regular fries and sweet potato fries.
I am in love with a Yam.
I don't know what has happened this year, but something inside of me snapped and I became voraciously hungry for sweet potatoes. It began by hiding them in things because you see...the Hubby is not a yam fan.
So when he had light orange mashed potatoes, he grew suspicious. But with a little sweet seasoning(cinnamon, brown sugar and a hint of nutmeg), it was a delicious side to some ribs.
When he agreed to have some butternut squash soup, I threw it in! And voila! He liked it!
Whenever, however, oh it didn't even matter...I needed my sweet heavenly potato.
Then if you have seen my review of Atlas Global Bistro , their Sweet Potato Cake sent me on a tailspin. Dessert! BUT OF COURSE!
Now, I am one to admit my mistakes, and then get very angry. This particular mistake occurred on my first attempt to make Sweet Potato Cupcakes, which if you search online, don't seem to be all that common and/or uniform in how one makes them. So the disastrous first batch was made and I stomped all the way to my Grandmother's house for a family gathering with no dessert to speak of. The stupid things didn't rise and stuck like jellyfish to the sides of the cupcake liners.
BUT
I would not be stopped! A few weeks later, we decided to host lots of family at our new house for the first time, and I decided to put it all on the line and try again. And then I stumbled on this blog and recipe at: http://www.laurenslatest.com/sweet-potato-cupcakes-with-brown-sugar-marshmallow-frosting/ She used some alternative ingredients, but I reinterpreted the recipe and came up with something I can only define as amazing.
Delicious Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Cinnamon French Vanilla Icing
(cue the choir of angels)
Ingredients: (makes 12 cupcakes)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cooked and then pureed sweet potato
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup cake and pastry flour * (see below for how to substitute)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup milk
1 container of Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy French Vanilla Frosting
Cinnamon powder (to taste)
Before you begin, you need to get yourself some pureed sweet potato. In my opinion, fresh is best. So take a small sweet potato or half of a larger one, peel it and chop it into cubes. Set up a small pot with lightly salted water and a steamer basket over top (put in enough water to almost touch the bottom of the steamer basket). To make it go fast, I put the diced sweet potato in the basket, covered it and put the burner on high. I let it get to a rolling boil and kept it there until the sweet potato was soft and cooked through. If you like to steam in a different fashion (i.e./ let the water simmer for longer) go right ahead, I am not the boss of you! Once the sweet potato is soft, mash it in a bowl to make a nice lumpy puree, it does not need to be smooth and perfect.
DON'T FORGET to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. And to save time, prepare your muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
Now its time to make the batter. Soften the butter, but not to the point where it is melted. You just need it to be smooth enough to mix easily.
In a large bowl, mix the butter together with the brown and white sugars until they are blended very well.
Stir in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and sweet potato puree, and mix until it is almost lighter in texture. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix, mix, mix!
*If you don't have cake and pastry flour (which is just a lighter flour in texture), all you need to do is get some corn starch and regular all purpose flour. Take a 1 cup dry measuring cup and put two tablespoons of cornstarch at the bottom, then top it up with all purpose flour. POOF! Now you have cake and pastry flour!
In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together: the flours, baking POWDER and SODA, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then measure out the milk in a measuring cup. Now, I followed the instructions on the recipe, and I am not superstitious about anything: except baking. So just do it, I don't know why, but it makes magic cupcakes, and that's a good enough reason for me.
Into the wet ingredients slowly mix in some of the dry mixture, follow with some milk and then dry ingredients again. Always end with the dry ingredients, and do it until it is all combined. The recipe does this with a stand mixer on low. I did it by hand. Either way, when its all combined, give it a good stir or two by hand to make sure all of the ingredients are mixed together. When its done, it should look like the picture below:
Divide the batter into the prepared muffin tin, don't worry if it looks like a lot, the batter is a bit thicker and so it won't rise too much.
Place the muffin tin into the preheated oven. Then lower the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake the cupcakes for approximately 20-25 minutes depending on the heat of your oven. Check them once you near the end with a toothpick. Poke one of the cupcake centers and if you get some crumbles, keep them in the oven for a couple minutes more.
As the cupcakes bake, you can prepare the icing. I like store-bought icing and its an easy alternative to homemade; but if you don't, please feel free to make it! The essence of the icing is the hint of cinnamon. When the icing is at room temperature, I mix in about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Taste the icing and add as much cinnamon as you like. I will say that using it in moderation is a good idea because the cupcakes are fragrant and spiced also.
Once the cupcakes are done, let them cool to room temperature on a cooling rack...ice them...and serve them!
Here's my finished masterpiece:
What is nice about these cupcakes is that the flavors are delicious, diverse, but not overwhelming. Even the sweet potato scoffers could not help but eat one..or two!
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