Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Five Toppings

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Five Toppings

My last cupcake recipe of the year! Can you believe I've done 53 of them altogether? I have no idea what I'll do with all my new-found free time! I am, however, really excited that I managed to stick with this and do a recipe every week. Go me!

Cupcakes:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

16 oz sweet potatoes, drained and mashed (I cooked down fresh sweet potatoes but if you need to save time canned works just as well, with the added bonus that you don't have to strain out the fiber!)

2/3 cup apple cider

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg (if you don't have nutmeg, allspice will substitute)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices, and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time.

In another bowl, mix sweet potatoes, apple cider, and vanilla until smooth. If you used a fresh sweet potato, you will need to strain it through a sieve of some kind to get out all the fibers before you mix it in.

Alternate in the sweet potato and flour mixtures, beating until just blended. The batter will be a gorgeous golden-orange color.

Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full. 

Bake for 13 minutes, turn, bake for 13 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes 30.

Caramel Topping:

6 soft caramels

Spread the caramels very thin with your fingers, then lay them over top of the cupcakes.

Vanilla Topping

3 tbsp butter, soft

1 1/2 cups xxx sugar

Dash of vanilla

2-3 tbsp cream

Beat all the ingredients until smooth. Frost generously.

Chocolate Topping:

2 oz fine chocolate, semisweet

1/4 cup cream

Melt the chocolate in the cream using a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly before using. Drizzle over cupcakes.

Cinnamon Topping:

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup xxx sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Melt the butter and brown sugar together over low heat (between 2-4 on a stove dial). Add the cinnamon and stir until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and whisk in the xxx sugar.

Frost cupcakes immediately, as topping will set up fast.

Whipped Cream Topping:

Make or buy whipped cream (I cheated and bought because I was in a hurry). Top generously.

Cupcakes adapted from FoodNetwork.com.

And there you have it! Five different toppings, six cupcakes each. I couldn't decide which one would go best with the cupcakes when I was making them, so I decided to use all three. In retrospect, I think the cinnamon or the whipped cream would be best, but it's really up to you and what tastes good.

Also, I didn't have time to make them, but sprinkling some toasted pecans over the vanilla frosted cupcakes would have been divine!

I hope you enjoyed this foray into the world of cupcake baking; I definitely had a blast. Any future recipes will definitely be documented for this blog, but I'm not going to keep the same rigorous schedule at this point.

Thanks for reading!

Creepcakes

Creepcakes

Happy Halloween! These cupcakes are just two easy chocolate and vanilla recipes; it's the decorating that really matters. My mom and I did the decorations, and we really had a lot of fun with it -- it was so cool to see the different directions we went with the idea and how her monsters looked different from mine.

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cup cake flour

3/4 cup regular flour

3/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/8 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) + 1 tbsp butter

1 1/8 cup sugar

3 small eggs + 2 egg yolks

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, then yolks, one at a time. Add flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Divide batter between 12 regular size cupcakes and 12 minis. Bake the large cupcakes for 10 minutes, then turn the tin and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup warm water

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, soda, and baking powder. While mixing, add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and water until all combined.

Divide batter between 12 regular cupcakes and 12 minis. My mini pan holds 24 cupcakes, so I waited until I had it completely filled with chocolate and vanilla batter before baking. It, like the regular size chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, goes 10 minutes, turn, 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Fluffy Buttercream Frosting:

2 sticka butter

1 tbsp vanilla

4-5 cups xxx sugar

cream as needed

Beat the butter until soft, then add xxx sugar and vanilla (i don't usually measure my xxx sugar, which is why I always kind of have to estimate the amount -- I just throw it in until I judge I have enough). Add in cream, in very small increments, until you reach a spreadable texture. Add food color to tint icing as desired.

Decorating:

Ice cupcakes generously, then decorate as grotesquely as possible with various candies! We used Mike and Ike candies, gummy worms, gummy fruit slices, Nerds, Laffy Taffy, Sweet-Tarts, and decorating candies that I already had on hand -- something we didn't have, but probably could have benefitted from, was Twizzlers or some other kind of licorice rope.

Have fun! and have a happy & safe Halloween.

Cupcakes and frosting adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting

Cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, room temp

1 cup whole milk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

24 oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder, then add butter and beat slowly until mixture forms sandy crumbs. Slowly pour in 3/4 cup milk and beat until just mixed.

Whisk together 1/4 cup milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the flour and beat until ingredients are combined and batter is smooth, about one minute. Be careful not to over mix.

Split the oreos in half so that one half has the cream and other is smooth. Take the cream side and place one in the bottom of each cupcake liner in your tins, cream side up.

Crumble all but 8 of the remaining naked sides and stir them into the batter.

Fill each liner about 2/3 full -- these rise a fair amount, so don't overfill.

Bake for 14 minutes, turn, bake 14 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes about 24 cupcakes.

Frosting:

2 cups xxx sugar, sifted

8 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp butter, room temp

3 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup strong coffee

Sift together xxx sugar and cocoa powder, then beat in vanilla and butter. Add coffee slowly until icing reaches a spreadable consistency.

In retrospect, I was reminded of why I generally steer clear of cocoa powder in frostings: I think that the confectioner's sugar tends to blend with the cocoa powder in a way that brings out the cocoa powder's less pleasant qualities. The recipe would be less quick, but I think considerably better tasting, if you used bittersweet chocolate, melted with the butter, and blended that into the sugar. If someone tries this recipe, you will have to report!

To finish:

Take the remaining 8 naked-sided oreos and process them in a food processor -- or just crush them really finely using a mortar and pestle or something -- until they become fine crumbs.

Ice each cupcake moderately and sprinkle with oreo crumbs.

Cupcake recipe adapted from The Kitchen is My Playground.

Creme Brulee Mini Cupcakes

Creme Brûlée Mini Cupcakes

These two-bite little cupcakes are tasty, and can really be flavored any way you want -- I used vanilla in my custard, but you can use almond extract, coconut, something fruity -- basically any flavor that you really enjoy.

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl, whisk together sugars, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined and smooth.

Fill mini cupcake liners with about a tablespoon of batter (about 2/3 full). Bake 7 minutes, turn tins, bake another 7 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes 36.

Creme Brûlée:

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

Beat egg yolks until thick and light colored. Beat in sugar.

In a saucepan, heat cream over medium heat until warm. Stir in vanilla.

A little at a time, stir half of the cream into the egg yolks. Make sure you are stirring constantly during this process to keep the eggs from curdling. Then add the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring continuously.

My recipe claimed it would take 5-8 minutes for the custard to thicken, but my experience was that was a LIE. It actually took closer to 50 minutes, and I eventually had to add a little cornstarch to get it to thicken up. However, I didn't have enough heavy cream and I had to supplement with about 1/3 cup light cream, so I think this is one possible cause.

Whatever the case, don't panic if your custard takes a little while to thicken. Remember to keep stirring it, and when it's thick enough to coat the spoon it's ready.

When the custard is finished, strain it into a bowl using a fine mesh to remove solids. You will need to use it immediately.

To Finish:

1/4 cup brown sugar

Before making your custard, core a small hole in the top of each cupcake.

When custard is finished, spoon enough into each cupcake to fill the hole. Set the cupcakes in the fridge for at least two hours.

Before serving, sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar over the top of the custard.

Then use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar into a crust. It will turn brown.

You only need to turn the heat on it for a short while -- too long and the sugar will burn, so use your judgement based on whether or not you like the burnt sugar taste.

This recipe was a little more nerve-wracking than some due to the custard, but overall not too bad. The mini cupcakes are perfect for a tea or garden party where finger food will be served; you can even unwrap them from their wrappers ahead of time to minimize trash. And the carmalised sugar topping looks extremely elegant.

Adapted from Design Bake Run.

Apricot-Glazed Black and White Cheesecakes

Apricot-Glazed Black and White Cheesecakes

If you're ever in need of a cupcake recipe that's quick and basically as easy as falling off a log, cheesecake is the way to go. It has approximately five ingredients, and it seriously takes very little effort, and everyone always acts so amazed that you did it. Great ego boost for no sweat.

Crust:

1 cup crushed chocolate cookies (she recommends Nabisco's, but my grocery didn't have any, so I wound up using chocolate graham. I've seen someone else say that oreos work if you scrape out the filling)

1/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix the sugar and the crushed cookies -- they can be more or less fine depending on how you like the texture -- then stir in the melted butter. Press about 1 tbsp into the bottom of each cupcake liner. You can also vary the thickness depending on how much crust you like in your cheesecake.

Bake about 7 minutes. Let cool.

Cupcakes:

1 lb (2 8 oz boxes) cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/c cup sour cream

Reduce the oven temp to 275 F.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, then the vanilla. Drizzle the eggs in a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure they're well mixed in. Add sour cream and mix well.

Fill cups almost full, then bake 10 minutes, turn, bake 10 minutes. The sides will be set but the middles will be a little wobbly, which tricks you into thinking you haven't baked them long enough. BUT YOU HAVE.

Makes 24.

To finish:

2/3 cup apricot jam

When the cupcakes are cool -- you can refrigerate them overnight for best results -- top them by warming the jam in a saucepan or the microwave until it's kind of liquidy. The recipe recommends straining it, but if you prefer a little pulp, don't bother. Spoon around 2 tsp onto the top of each cheesecake.

I used a homemade jam that my mother canned, and didn't strain it (I'm lazy); it looked pretty and tasted even better. If you don't like apricot jam, substitute one that you do like -- the cheesecake has no real flavor in and of itself, so you can modify the topping however you want. A cherry jam with big chunks in it sounds pretty super.

Or, if you're not a fruit person, you can always use fudge sauce or caramel. Cheesecake is great because it's so versatile!

Now if only I actually liked it. :(

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.