Chocolate Sweet Potato Cupcakes

My favorite {sweet} flavor combinations are chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and mint (think Peppermint Patties- swoon), and chocolate and pumpkin.  Notice a theme?  Anyway, when I saw this recipe that combines chocolate and sweet potato in my mom's Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I had to give it a try.

This proved to be another winning combination.  The cupcakes themselves would be delicious, but topping them with chocolate made them twice as good (maybe even three times as good).  And!  These cupcakes hold a surprise.  There is a Hershey's kiss in each one.  Now, I did not have enough kisses for all the cupcakes, so it was like a lottery at our house the two times I served them.  Some had kisses, some didn't.  Fun, fun, fun.  These would be a lovely Thanksgiving alternative to traditional desserts, particularly for the youngsters at your table.

*I did run into some trouble with the chocolate icing in this recipe.  The melted chocolate seized up on me before I added the butter and confectioner's sugar, so I had to add milk to soften it so it could be spread.  I felt as if I was plastering the cupcakes instead of icing them.  The flavor was still excellent.  It's up to you if you'd like to give the icing below a whirl or use your own.  If you do use your own, I would recommend an icing that is richly chocolate-y, not a fluffy, mild frosting.  But, that's just my opinion.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Cupcakes (adapted slightly from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2011)
Makes 24 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
24 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
cupcake papers

For the Frosting (OR substitute your own favorite chocolate frosting):

8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp. softened butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

To make the cupcakes, in a large bowl, combine flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.  In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, add sugar and beat for 2 minutes.  Beat in eggs.  Add sweet potato, milk and vanilla, mixing until just blended.  Add flour mixture and blend.  Fill muffin tins lined with cupcake papers 2/3 full of batter.  Press one Hershey's Kiss in each cup (do not press it all the way to the bottom).  Top with remaining cupcake batter so that each kiss is covered.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cupcakes no longer look wet and when a knife inserted to the kiss comes out clean.  Remove and let cool completely in their papers on a wire rack.

If you want to make the chocolate frosting included with this recipe, please first read my above experience marked with an "*".  If you're okay with that, please proceed.  In a double boiler or in your microwave, melt the two chocolates together until just smooth.  Beat the chocolate using your mixer for 30 seconds.  Add butter and confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes.

These freeze well. Pin It