Mini Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Yes, I know we're on the precipice of springtime. And yes, these cupcakes were baked in the heart of winter squash and potato season... for a Winter term Finals potluck, in fact. Two rounds of finals later, I though I might have a chance to catch up on some of this blog backlog over Spring Break.


I also thought I'd be able to do my laundry. But Seattle had other plans and decided to become sunny and beautiful, mocking anyone who dared to do indoor things.

So instead of blogging I did a waterfall hike, some wine tasting, an underground city tour, brunch, BBQ and multiple Greenlake walks.

Now, finally, on Sunday night the rain has returned, returning my focus to a more wintry time. A time of studying, potlucks and





Sweet Potato Cupcakes (adapted from Southern Living, Nov. 2007):

INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups sugar (reduce to 1 cup if making muffins)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup orange juice

- Cream cheese frosting
- Topping: maple candy and chopped pecans (or pre-candied nuts, chopped)


Preheat oven to 350.

The original recipe called for a can or mashed yams, but the only ones I could find at the store were fresh or candied. So I opted for fresh and just mashed them myself. Start by boiling some water, add a pinch of salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Peel and chop potatoes (smaller pieces for faster cooking), and add to water.





















While potatoes are cooking, whisk together all dry ingredients except sugar.

When potatoes finish boiling (can be easily pierced with a fork), drain and pour into a large bowl. Mash together with the butter (just like making mashed potatoes). Whisk in the eggs and vanilla; then stir in remaining sugar.


Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring just until all flour has been mixed in. Spoon into muffin tins (minis are fun!) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (longer for full sized).


While muffins are baking or cooling (at least 30 min.), you can prepare the cream cheese frosting (any ol' recipe you like), and the nutty crumble topping. I am lucky to have parents who know how much I adore anything with real maple in it and who like to bring me treats from their travels. That made it easy for me to just chop up some maple candy with pecans for a yummy crumble topping.

Other alternatives are chopped candied nuts, or simply chopped toasted nuts to bring it down a notch.

Once cupcakes have cooled, simply frost, add some topping, and share!

Stone Fruit Summer Pie

As the weather turns dreary up north, I'm reflecting back on this past summer and thinking: "Man, I made a lot of pies!"

Well, sure, I actually only made two. And, yeah, it was really only because I got the fruit for free (Closing time at the farmers market, in the ugly section). But still, two pies feels like a lot when I'm generally not a big fan of either making or eating them-- I'll pick a crisp or crumble over a pie any day.

It's not that I have a problem with fruit (or pumpkin or pecan, if you prefer); it's just the crust that bugs me. It's finicky to make and work with, and then when all is said and done, I've never found it to do much flavor-wise. It's either dry or soggy (mostly dry and bland), and it gets in the way of my un-adulterated enjoyment of the filling.

But that's all changed, now that I have Dori in my life! I used her sweet tart dough with nuts in Ali's birthday tart, and it worked so well that I'm never going to try anything else ever again. It tastes unbelievably yummy, and it's so buttery-soft and easy to work with that you can turn a crust disaster into perfection in less than 30 seconds:

I used fresh cherries, pitted by hand (yeah, that sucked), and an assortment of white and yellow peaches and nectarines. The white ones are incredibly sweet, but I think yellows give more flavor when baked.

To prevent sogginess, I mixed up a small bowl with 1 part flour, 2 parts oats, and 2 parts brown sugar and scattered a thin layer on the unbaked crust before adding the fruit.

Drain the juices from the fruit (set aside in a small bowl), and assemble pie. No sugar or sweetener necessary when you have such ripe produce... just toss together and dump into the crust.

For finishing touches, I added some butter to the oat/sugar mix and sprinkled on top of the fruit (sneaking in some crisp and crumble bits), and I brushed some of the reserved fruit juice around the remaining exposed crust. Bake on 375 for about 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

And say yes to leftovers!

Truffles Update

After my last truffle adventure I had plenty of leftover ganache, so I decided to make up the rest of the batch for a work pot-luck. Once the ganache is already made, truffle assembly takes almost no time at all.

At this point, I was low on the honey-balsamic toffee, so I decided to crush it together with some almonds in the food processor. If I were to make these truffles again, I would absolutely use almonds in the original recipe, as it produces more praline and is easier to work with (less sticky). Also, using a food processor for this part (versus hammer and parchment) is an incredible time-saver.

PRALINE AMENDMENT:

Combine equal parts almonds and honey-balsamic toffee in a food processor until mixed evenly and finely ground. Empty praline mixture into a small bowl. Drop ganache balls into praline bowl and roll to coat, pressing in as much praline as possible. Refrigerate until serving.