Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

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These Sweet Potato Cupcakes are moist, sweet, tender and downright delicious. And the Brown Sugar Marshmallow Frosting is amazing!!!

Let’s talk about the story of these Sweet Potato Cupcakes.

Yesterday, my daughter informed me that it was her birthday…again. {Her real birthday is the beginning of February.} She also told me that she wanted to sing and eat cake. Oh and yesterday was also Christmas.

She has a vivid imagination.

So, in an effort to be a good parent and play along, I started making cupcakes.

EXCEPT…..problem 1: no butter. Usually I never run out and have my body weight in butter spread between my fridge and freezer. Somehow I happened to finish my last stick without realizing it. {–>What?? How would I not notice?}

Solution: Coconut Oil. Worked like a charm and gave a really yummy coconut undertone.

I continue baking when…

Problemo numero dos-o: almost no all purpose flour left. Can a girl just not catch a break? Again, how did I neglect to see this?

Never fear! White whole wheat pastry flour is here! I’ve never been more glad to have 17 different flours on hand! Just kidding. I have 5.

So, I get the cupcakes into the oven when……son of a mother–> no powdered sugar. Ohhhhh effffff. {That’s the third thing to go wrong, incase you’ve been counting along with me.} I start going through my mind about what I could make without powdered sugar when the figurative light goes on and I remember marshmallow frosting. Pure genius.

The universe really wanted us to have cupcakes, apparently. Or, I’m a little persistent.

So, my cupcakes get pulled out of the oven, my mind is blown by this frosting, and we enjoy our afternoon celebrating a fake birthday. These cupcakes were a pain in my side  moist, sweet, tender and downright delicious. And the frosting was amazing. A different texture than regular frosting but not quite like eating a marshmallow either. You basically just have to try it to be a believer. Pretty pretty please make these. They won’t disappoint. My happy little accident cupcakes 🙂 Here’s how you do it:

Mix some coconut oil, brown sugar and granulated sugar together in a bowl.

To that, we’re going to pour in some vanilla bean paste {or just regular vanilla extract} and an egg + an egg yolk

and the mashed sweet potato.

Whip this up until it looks light and fluffy.

Now in a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients–all purpose flour, white whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Find one of these cover things {which is a brilliant creation from KitchenAid–>perfect for baking with kids and messy adults}

and with the mixer on low, alternate adding in the dry ingredients

with some milk. Go back and forth starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

After all the ingredients are combined, remove the bowl from the mixer and give it a few stirs by hand.

Now we’ll scoop our batter into our prepared pan and bake. Set these aside.

Now for the frosting {the best part!!} Pour some water into a pot filled with brown sugar and sugar. Stir this around and place over medium high heat.

We have 1 egg white left over from making the cupcakes, so we’re going to whip it up with a little cream of tartar.

You want stiff peaks like so.

Back to that sugar, once it comes to a nice rolling boil, start timing 1 minute. If you think it’s going to boil over, just stir in a little.

After the minute, remove it from the heat and stir in a few marshmallows until melted and smooth.

Now, at this point, I ran out of hands so you’re just going to have to trust me that I slowly poured that hot sugar mixture into the bowl of egg whites at the same time I was whipping it with my hand mixer. Once all the sugar is incorporated, continue whipping until the mixture is thick like frosting. Stir in a little vanilla and use immediately. No dilly dallying! I got mine into a piping bag and went to town!

My daughter topped these with nuts and we had a lovely faux celebration! Try these out and let me know what you think! They truly are one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had…and that’s saying a lot! Happy Monday! 🙂

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5 from 11 votes

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Marshmallow Frosting

These Sweet Potato Cupcakes are moist, sweet, tender and downright delicious. And the Brown Sugar Marshmallow Frosting was amazing!!!!

servings 12 cupcakes

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

• ▢ 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter
• ▢ 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 egg yolk save the white for the frosting!
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1/2 teaspoon extract
• ▢ 1/2 cup cooked, pureed sweet potato* pureed sweet potato*
• ▢ 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 2/3 cup white whole wheat pastry flour
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢ 1/4 cup milk

For the Frosting

• ▢ 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/3 cup cold water
• ▢ 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
• ▢ 1 egg white
• ▢ 1 large pinch cream of tartar
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 1/4 cup chopped & toasted pecans optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners and set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream coconut oil with sugars. Stir in egg, egg yolk, vanilla bean paste and sweet potato. Scrape sides and whip until light and fluffy. In another large bowl stir flours, leavenings and spices together using a fork or whisk. With the mixer on low, alternate mixing in dry ingredients with milk, starting and ending with dry. Once ingredients are all incorporated, mix the batter together by hand to ensure everything is mixed evenly. Spoon into prepared tins and place into hot oven. Reduce temperature to 325 and bake 18-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted. Set aside to cool.

For the Frosting

• Place brown sugar, granulated sugar and water into a small pot. Stir to moisten sugar and place over medium high heat. In a large bowl, whip egg white and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Once the sugar dissolves in water and starts to bubble {not too violently} time 1 minute. After this, remove from heat and stir in marshmallows. Once those have melted, slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into the egg whites while whipping with a hand mixer on medium to high speed. Continue whipping for 3-5 minutes or until frosting becomes very thick and holds its shape. Stir in vanilla bean paste. Immediately scoop this frosting into a piping bag and frost all cupcakes. Top with chopped and toasted pecans, if desired.

Notes

*I cooked my fresh sweet potatoes by peeling, chopping and microwaving them in some water. After they were fork tender, I drained the water and mashed. Feel free to try the canned sweet potato for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 326kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 132mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 0.9mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cupcakes, marshmellow frosting, sweet potato

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