Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

This was a weird recipe for me to make for this reason:

I never eat sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving. Since childhood, I have felt that they were one part of the meal I could do without. I do not understand why you would take a vegetable and bake it with brown sugar and marshmallows. I think, in particular, the texture of it bothers me. However, given that I do not mind baking vegetables into cupcakes (zucchini, carrots, pumpkin), I had no serious objection to the cupcakes, even though they did call for candied pecans and marshmallows.

Side note: What is a vegetable? One of Layne's lesser-known rants is about this very subject. If you think about it, all vegetables can be classified as something else. For example, I believe a sweet potato falls into the category of tuber. I have just looked it up, and according to Wikipedia, vegetable is an informal classification based mostly on culinary tradition, meaning that something is classified as a vegetable if you cook it like a vegetable, whereas fruit has an actual specific botanical meaning. Don't we all feel smarter now?

Anyway, these turned out to be really good. You will notice that there are browned marshmallows on the tops of these. Sadly, I have had trouble with my kitchen torch since I went a little crazy with it when I first got it, so I used the broiler to brown my marshmallows.

You may wonder why I did not move the candy cane Oreos before I took this picture. I have no explanation for that.

You may also notice that I am now using some fancy stackable cooling racks. When I posted about not having any, Melanee made fun of me, so I bought some. It turns out that it is very nice to have racks to cool cupcakes on.

I made these for a pre-Thanksgiving work party. They seemed to go over pretty well.

Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Makes 24

2 pounds (about 3 medium) sweet potatoes, scrubbed

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. coarse salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. packed dark-brown sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For topping:

2 c. miniature marshmallows

candied pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 400. Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork and place on a baking sheet. I lined mine with aluminum foil. Bake until completely soft and juices begin to seep from potatoes and caramelize (about 1 hour). Remove from oven. Reduce temperature to 325.

When cool enough to handle, slice potatoes in half lengthwise and use a fork to scrape the flesh from the skin into a bowl, discarding skins. Mash potato with fork until smooth (there should be about 2 c.)

Line muffin tins. Whisk together dry ingredients, including spices. Cream butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture in three batches.

Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake about 28 minutes.

To make the topping, Martha suggests dividing the marshmallows into 24 piles, placing the piles on a baking sheet, heating them under the broiler, and transferring them to the cupcakes.

The marshmallows proved to be too sticky for that to work. Instead, I piled them on the cupcakes first, and then put them under the broiler. Then, I added candied pecan pieces on top.

To candy the pecans, heat 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 c. water to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring. Cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of the pan with a pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Boil until mixture turns a light amber. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans with a wooden spoon to coat completely. Remove pecans from caramel. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil. Let cool completely before using or storing. Break into small pieces if necessary.