Saturday, November 14, 2009

MS Cupcakes Club: Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

This month's Martha Stewart Cupcakes Club selection, Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes chosen by Karen at Karen's Cookies, Cakes & More, offered many firsts for me. It was my first time baking sweet potatoes (we usually buy them in a can), my first time baking a dessert with sweet potatoes as an ingredient and my first time broiling marshmallows to get them toasty brown.

I loved every step involved in the recipe. I took a nibble of the sweet potato as it came out of the oven, and I was amazed at how naturally sweet it was, without the marshmallows or brown sugar. I definitely need to get in the habit of baking sweet potatoes more often when they are in season.

This cupcakes turned out fantastic, almost more like a muffin than a cupcake. The combination of spices -- including freshly ground nutmeg (yum!) and cinnamon -- were divine. In fact, the cupcakes tasted so good, I almost didn't want to add the marshmallows. Almost.

But gleefully I did. It was tricky to stack the tiny, round marshmallows without them falling over when they hit the oven. And it was even trickier trying to transfer the half-melted marshmallows to the cupcakes, but by some miracle, I managed.

I didn't manage, however, to make the candied pecans for the topping. I gave it a good try, but the sugar syrup crystallized instead of caramelized, and the combination of "rock candy" and pecans wasn't that great to look at or to eat. So I left the pecans off.

But the cupcakes still looked so cute...

And I discovered that you have to eat the cupcakes while the marshmallows are still warm and gooey. I loved these cupcakes, and I'd love to bake them again sometime.

10 comments:

  1. They look yum and I agree with you on the taste of the warm sweet potato just out of the oven. I normally cook sweet potato with potatoes and spices for samosas. So it was new to me to bake with them. Well done.

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  2. How fun! They look wonderful. Your photos are really good!

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  3. Looks great! I put my marshmallows right on the cupcakes and stuck it under the broiler and it was easy. I didn't do the pecans

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  4. Thanks for baking along with me this month!!! Your cupcakes look fantastic. I cant believe you've never had sweet potatoes til now but glad that you went ahead and gave them a try --- and i think we have a winner, dont we?!

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  5. Haha I struggled with stacking the marshmallows too :) Your cupcakes look wonderful! Glad you discovered the joy of sweet potatoes - they are delicious!

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  6. Your cupcakes look wonderful! And they look so moist! You were much more daring than me! I just went with cream cheese frosting. I knew that I would get irritated with making the marshmallow stacks just perfect!

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  7. Those little marshmallows gave me grief too. They turned out beautiful. Great job!

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  8. i totally agree. they really were super delicious, even without the frosting!

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  9. Wow yours look picture perfect! I think better than Martha's!

    Thanks for baking along with us this month! YAY!

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  10. I made a variation of these for Thanksgiving and they were a HUGE hit! Thanks for the inspiration!

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