With all of the delicious pumpkin cakes and pumpkin bread recipes going around I though I would give another shout out to my beloved Sweet Potato.

Raise your hand if your childhood Thanksgiving feast was incomplete without Mashed Sweet Potatoes topped with Toasted Marshmallows?  I know my hand is raised… My sister and I loved this dish growing and we still do today, in fact it has become the dish that she now brings to Thanksgiving every year.

A couple of weeks ago I came across a recipe on the blog Food Like Cake for a gorgeous Pumpkin Halloween Cake with Chocolate frosting and homemade marshmallow fluff. (I KNOW RIGHT!)  I loved this recipe, but my thoughts instantly went to Sweet Potatoes.  Why couldn’t I adapt this recipe for pumpkin cake into cupcakes and replace the canned pumpkin puree with fresh sweet potato puree? (I do not like canned sweet potatoes puree at all!  It has a funny taste….)

Then I got to thinking about what kind of frosting to use for for the sweet potato cupcakes…. That’s when my mind drifted off into Thanksgiving bliss and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Marshmallows.  I was going to take the Homemade Marshmallow Fluff and make that the frosting, and use my blowtorch to toast them! I love when I can use the blowtorch…. By the way you can purchase a blowtorch from you local kitchen store ( Williams & Sonoma, Bed, Bath and Beyond, etc.)

These cupcakes are full of fall flavor and warm spices, and were everything that I hoped they would be. All I’m saying is if you love Sweet Potatoes then you HAVE TO TRY THESE CUPCAKES!!

I hope Y’all enjoy!

****Another great addition to this recipe for Spiced Sweet Potato Cupcakes is chopped pecans.  I love that nutty crunch from pecans!

 

Spiced Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Fluff

Adapted From (here)

Makes 28 cupcakes (or 24 cupcakes and a small loaf cake)

Ingredients:

2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

4 Eggs

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

2/3 Cup Water

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

2¾ Cups of Sugar

3½ Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

½ Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ Teaspoon Ginger

¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg

¼ Teaspoon Cloves

¾ Cup of Chopped Pecans** Optional

Directions:

Pre-Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the peeled and chopped sweet potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook the sweet potatoes until fork tender. Drain the cooked sweet potatoes and then puree them in a food processor until completely smooth. Measure out about 1 3/4 cup sweet potato puree and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until pale yellow. Then add in the oil, water, and the cooled sweet potato puree, and mix just until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low-speed slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet.

Mix just until everything is incorporated. Then with a spatula scrap the sides of the bowl and fold in the pecans.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and spray with non-stick spray.

Fill each of the cupcake liners with the cake batter.

 

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Homemade Marshmallow Fluff

Once the cupcakes have cooled frost them with the homemade marshmallow fluff using a piping bag.  Then using a culinary blowtorch to toast the marshmallow fluff.