Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Cream Cheese-Caramel Frosting
These ochre-toned, spiced cupcakes with a light orange scent are an adaptation of a recipe from “The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook” by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day, owners of Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia. The frosting here is no ordinary cream cheese frosting. It’s flavored with a buttery, bittersweet caramel that brings out the earthiness of the sweet potato and the warm notes of the spices in the cupcakes. Store extras, if you have any, in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days; bring to room temperature before serving.
12
cupcakes
Don’t add the caramel to the cream cheese base if the caramel is still warm; it will make the frosting too soft for spreading onto the cupcakes. And as soon as the caramel is incorporated into the frosting, stop the mixer, as overbeating will also result in a goopy consistency. (If the frosting does end up too soft, refrigerate it for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it firms up enough to be spreadable.)
1½ hours
For the cupcakes
-
336
grams (12 ounces) orange-flesh sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-cubes
Directions
-
01To make the cupcakes, in a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the sweet potato and ¼ cup water. Cover and microwave on high until completely tender, about 8 minutes, stirring once about halfway through. Pour off and discard the liquid in the bowl, then mash the potato with a fork until smooth. Measure out 186 grams (¾ cup) of the sweet potato and set aside; discard the remainder or reserve for another use.
Pardon the interruption
You need to be a Milk Street Digital Member to see the full recipe
JOIN MILK STREET DIGITAL & PRINT
12 WEEKS FOR JUST $1
and get access to all of our recipes and articles online, as well as in print.
GET DIGITAL & PRINTPlease check your weight of brown sugar. I've been baking for years and weighing my ingredients. A half cup of brown sugar should be around 100 grams.
Hi Keith -
Thanks so much for pointing this out! You're right, we had the wrong weight on this recipe. Our baking weight for brown sugar is 218 g. per cup, so 1/2 cup should be 109 grams. We have updated the recipe to reflect this. For more information on our sugar weight testing, please see this article https://www.177milkstreet.com/2017/12/sugars-measured-up.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I just made these and they are delicious. The cupcakes are fluffy and tender. I had a ton of frosting leftover so I think you could cut that amount in half and have plenty. I also used store bought caramel in the frosting and it seemed to work fine.