Sweet potato cupcakes with toasted maple meringue frosting
30 Nov
As a kid, I couldn’t stand sweet potatoes. It seemed like my dad was the only one who would eat them, and that was usually with a ham dinner or Thanksgiving. Poor, under-appreciated sweet potatoes.
Then I grew up and had sweet potato fries. I tried them mashed, with a little bit of butter and cinnamon. And slowly but surely, I fell in love with sweet potatoes. I like them so much that this year, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, I took a leftover, cooked sweet potato, mashed it, warmed it up, and spread it on a bagel to make a breakfast sandwich with cheddar and an over-easy egg. And it was DELICIOUS!
So, today I give you my love of sweet potatoes, in cupcake form, as well as one last goodbye to Thanksgiving and the harvest season. Last year, I created a cupcake recipe for The Bruery using their Autumn Maple, which is their take on the typically traditional autumn/pumpkin seasonal–except they use yams, and lots of them. I reviewed that recipe, but decided to go with one of the new base recipes I’ve been using, and I’m rather pleased. The cake is moist, yet light, and packed with flavor. I’m also in love with sticky, gooey, light meringues, and to give this one a little something extra, I added maple syrup. It’s a light taste, but you do notice it. I think next time I want to experiment with subbing out some of the sugar for maple syrup to see if the taste becomes bolder.
Ingredients
Directions
For the cupcakes, heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line cupcake pans with papers.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Set aside.
Cream the butter until light and fluffy, then add the granulated and brown sugars and mix an additional minute or two until combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing to combine
Add the mashed sweet potato, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until combined. Alternate the flour mixture and buttermilk and beat until combined.
Divide the batter between the wrappers in cupcake tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.
For the frosting, first, make sure all of your equipment is clean and grease-free. Meringue can be finicky, and it certainly will not turn out correctly if there is anything in the bowl or on the whisk.
Combine all ingredients EXCEPT the maple syrup in the bowl of your stand mixer (or favorite stainless steel mixing bowl) and whisk by hand until well combined.
Fill the bottom of a double boiler or pot with water, 1/3-full. Make sure that the bowl can sit on the pot without the bottom of the bowl touching the water.
Bring the water up to a steady simmer, then place the bowl in the pot and whisk the mixture steadily. Do not let the mixture boil. Whisk until all the sugar is dissolved in order to avoid a grainy frosting.
Continue whisking until the meringue reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. The frosting, at this point, should have thickened and look fluffy--almost creamy.
Take the bowl off the double boiler or pot and wipe the bottom of the bowl (just to keep things neat).
Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk the meringue frosting until stiff peaks forms and it has a glossy look. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes (trust me, a stand mixer is VERY handy here).AT around the 12-minute mark, slowly add the maple syrup.
Fill a piping bag with the finished meringue and pipe onto the cupcakes. Toast lightly with a hand torch and enjoy!
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