Sweet Potato & Walnut Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

"Wishing you a season filled with sweetness."
- Anon.

I wanted to bake something semi-healthy and tasty for a charity coffee morning that one of my friends is holding tomorrow morning. For some strange reason I went out on a limb and didn't follow a recipe, these were a complete experiment. I am very used to making carrot cake as I bake it nearly twice a month, so I just based the recipe on that, freely followed my instinct and voilà these moist little cakes were made. I even managed to slim it down a little and  I added the marshmallow frosting as I thought it would be a light, mild accompaniment in comparison to the heavier buttercream icing. These are the perfect cupcake for autumn/winter as they fill the house with a toasty cinnamon aroma and are delicious with a very large,sugary cup of tea.

So, to make these little beauties you will need:

• 200 grams of brown sugar
• 200ml of sun flower oil
• 2 eggs
• 100g of walnuts
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp all spice
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 400g of raw grated sweet potato
• 
  

For the gooey marshmallow frosting you will need:
(I highly recommend having a free standing electric mixer as the egg whites and sugar are beaten constantly for 10-12 minutes, and I doubt anyone was the arm power to survive that! )

• 1 cup of caster sugar
• 1/4 of water
• 5 egg whites (room temperate)
• 1/4 cup of caster sugar
• 1 tbl spoon of lemon juice

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Creating these tasty little gems all starts with the preparation.

• Grate one small sweet potato that should give you more than enough for the recipe. 
• Line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases, this recipe yields about 15. 

• Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• In a medium size bowl, mix together the brown sugar, eggs and sun flower oil, until the mixture is lighter in colour and the oil is completely incorporated.

• Add the cinnamon, all spice, salt and vanilla to the oil, sugar mixture. 
• Coarsely chop the walnuts.
• Stir in the flour and baking powder to the wet mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Finally add in the walnuts and grated sweet potato.

I find it so much easier to accurately measure out the batter amongst the cupcake cakes when using an ice cream scoop. But if you don't have one with a leaver to scoop the batter out of the cup your better off just using two large spoons. 

• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. 

And finally for the frosting
This is essentially Italian meringue icing. It is the prefect frosting for s'more cupcakes, or devils food cake. It sounds a lot harder than it actually is to create, you just have to be careful with the sugar water mixture as this reaches 245 degrees.

• In a small sauce pan on medium heat add the sugar and water. DO NOT STIR! Stirring will cause sugar crystals to form and will leave you with a batter full of crunchy sugary bits.
• Bring the sugar and water up to the boil and leave to simmer. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes for the sugar and water to reach 245 degrees. It helps to have a sugar thermometer, I unfortunately didn't, so i just guessed! It seemed to work out fine!
• While the sugar and water is simmering, separate your eggs. It makes a difference to have your eggs at room temperature as this allows them to gather more air and they increase to a greater volume.
• Whisk the egg whites in a free standing electric mixer until soft peaks form.
• At this stage add 1/4 cup of caster sugar to the egg whites and continue to whisk until the egg whites are full and glossy. You can turn off your mixer when the egg whites reach this stage, there is no need to continue whisking.
• When your sugar and water has reached 245 turn back on your electric mixer to full whack and slowly treacle the sugar syrup as close to the middle of the mixer as possible. 
• Continue to whisk at high speed for 10-12 minutes. Add lemon juice at any stage between this time.
• Fill a piping bag with this gorgeous ooey gooey frosting and pipe on to cooled cupcakes.
• Place the cupcakes under the grill for 4-5 minutes to brown the tops. BUT, be carful as the marshmallow frosting quickly burns! 
• Share with family & friends, but most importantly, enjoy! x