Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Monday, November 25, 2013

Photo credit: Lijia Evariz

Never celebrated Friendsgiving? It’s the version of Thanksgiving that you celebrate with your friends. I have been celebrating this festive event with friends since my college dorm days and look forward to it every year.

To celebrate my first Friendsgiving back in Chicago after my five-year hiatus, I decided to whip up my sweet potato cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Here are step-by-step directions to re-create my holiday recipe.

Feel free to use any brands you like, I usually opt for the cheaper or generic brands.

Ingredients (for the cake mix):

•      2 ¼ cups of flour
•      1 ½ cups of white sugar
•            ½ cup of brown sugar
•            ½ teaspoon of ground ginger
•            ½ teaspoon of salt
•      1 teaspoon of baking powder
•      1 teaspoon of baking soda
•      1-2 teaspoon(s) of ground cinnamon
•      4 eggs
•      1 cup of vegetable oil
•      1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
•      3-4 sweet potatoes (mashed)

Directions:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes. Cut them in halves, pierce them with a fork, then wrap in tin foil and put them in the oven until they’re soft. That process usually takes a long time, sooo if you’re pressed for time, as I usually am, you can put them on high in the microwave until tender. I leave them in for about 8 minutes on each side.

While the potatoes are prepping, I like to continue on with making the mix.

2. In a large bowl, I mix together all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugars, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder).

3. & 4. In a separate bowl, I mix together all of the wet ingredients (eggs, oil and vanilla extract).

6. After I’ve allowed time for my sweet potatoes to cook and cool, I scrape the softened potato from the skin and mash it up.

5. & 7. I then add that sweet potato mash to the wet ingredients before adding in the dry ingredients.

8. If you would like to make cupcakes, line the tray with paper or foil cupcake liners. Fill the molds about three quarters full and bake at 350º for 18-20 minutes.

If you prefer to bake a cake, it should be left in for about 30 minutes. Here’s a more comprehensive look at baking times and temperatures from wilton.com.

1. Ingredients (for frosting):

•        1 stick of unsalted butter (½ cup), softened
•        1 package of cream cheese (8 oz.)
•        2-3 cups of powdered sugar
•        1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
•        1 pinch of brown sugar
•        1-2 teaspoons of heavy whipping cream

(I am a cream cheese frosting lover, so I usually add a little of everything to be generous with the frosting of my cakes or cupcakes!)

2. Mix all of the wet ingredients first with an electric mixer and sift in the powdered sugar.

3. Feel free to decorate the cupcakes/cake with chopped walnuts, like my friend Erika.

Selfies with the lovely hostess!

The whole gang

I've been blessed with amazingly supportive friends who I love like family, so why not celebrate the holidays with them too?  

Photo courtesy of my amiga Brittany.

P.S. Here's a photo to remember my Madrid girlfriends, who I will be missing this year for Turkey Day.