{ Adventures in Baking: Sweet Potato Cupcakes }

A series by: Erin Gray
I typically make cupcakes for special occasions. Recently a good friend graduated high school and upon asking what kind she wanted she said "sweet potato". I thought she was joking, and am typically not a fan of anything but sweet potato fries, but due to the serious request I did some research and was very successful. This opportunity also gave me a chance to test run with icing tips for the first time before an upcoming birthday event.  Here is the recipe as I modified it from Better Homes and Gardens originally. Also, the frosting is a combination of my usual cream cheese recipe and one I found on yummly.com.:

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Marshmallow Cream Cheese Frosting.
Cake:
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. clove
1 c butter, softened
1/4 c milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
1 15 oz can sliced yams, mashed
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. In mixing bowl blend sugar and butter until whipped. Add eggs one at a time followed by mashed yams, and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk all dry ingredients and add in flour mix and milk slowly mixing on medium until smooth.  Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full ( I use a heaping ice cream scoop of batter) and bake 20-30 minutes.

Icing:
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
3 T butter, softened
1 1/2 T shortening
1 7 oz jar of marshmallow cream
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon sugar blend

Blend all ingredients until smooth. scoop into icing bag and pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. Icing will disperse and settle more like a glaze. * I also topped with clear sprinkles for a more fun effect.