Sweet Potato Caramel Cupcakes

These sweet potato caramel cupcakes are moist and delicious and topped with a delicious toasted marshmallow topping! Sweet potato is the secret ingredient that makes these cupcakes moist and flavorful.

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 1 20

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Equipment

24 cup miniature muffin tin

Ingredients

Cupcake Ingredients

1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes about 2 to 3 medium or 2 large
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar packed
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup caramel sauce store-bought

Frosting Ingredients

3 large egg whites
¾ cup granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Roast Sweet Potatoes

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prick potatoes all over with a fork. Rest on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning once or twice, until soft. Let cool completely. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days if baked in advance.

Make Cupcakes

Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Fill a miniature muffin pan with foil liners. Peel cooled sweet potatoes and run flesh through a potato ricer, or mash until very smooth. (Do not blend in a blender or food processor.) Measure 1 ½ packed cups (about 12 to 13 ounces) from sweet potato mash; you may have a little extra, which you should warm up with a pat of butter and sprinkle of sea salt and not share with anyone. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat until just combined. Mix in sweet potato puree, then stir in dry ingredients just until they disappear. Spread batter in prepared muffin pan, and bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Let cupcakes rest in pan for 5 minutes on a cooling rack, then remove onto cooling rack, and let cool completely. You can speed this up, as I always do, in the fridge.

Fill Cupcakes

Fit a pastry bag with a small to medium-sized round tip. Fill pastry bag with high-quality store-bought caramel. Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the center of the cupcake and apply medium pressure to release approximately one teaspoon of caramel filling into the cupcake.

Make Frosting

Place egg whites, granulated sugar, a pinch of salt and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Whisk mixture for 3 minutes, until whites are warmed and sugar granules feels mostly dissolved. Remove bowl from top of saucepan, then, with an electric mixer, beat egg white mixture on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 to 7 minutes longer. Add vanilla and mix until combined.

Frost and Decorate

If you’d like to make huge, marshmallow-like dollops, use a very large round piping tip or the corner snipped off a freezer bag. Pipe large dollops of frosting on each cupcake. Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the dollops so that they look (and smell!) like toasted marshmallows.

Nutrition

This recipe was found on My Sweet Precision. Thank you for visiting!