We couldn’t be more pleased for our Sweet Potato Chronicles friends, Ceri and Laura, who just published their first cookbook, How to Feed a Family. It’s a gorgeous book, filled with easy and delicious recipes your whole family will love. To celebrate its release, we’re featuring recipes from each section of the book. For this last week, of course it’s Dessert!

These not-so-sweet little cupcakes made their debut at Julian’s first birthday celebration. I wish I could tell you it was baby’s first sugar. Alas, as the second child, he experienced all sorts of the so-bad-they’re-good things we kept away from Esme when she was a baby. Still, familiarity did nothing to diminish the pleasure Julian found in these super-moist little cakes. And most important, we were able to get the oh-so-important photo of him in his first little collared shirt, covered in icing. ~Ceri Marsh

Babycakes

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Makes: 24 mini cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (125 ml) butter, softened
1/2 cup (125 ml) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 can (14 oz/398 g) pumpkin purée (or 1 2/3 cups (185 ml) of homemade purée)
1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 ml) baking soda
1 tsp (5 ml) ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp (1 ml) ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp (1 ml) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (1 ml) salt

Icing:

1 package (4 oz/110 g) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (60 ml) butter, softened
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease mini muffin tins or line them with cupcake papers.

For the cupcakes, in a large bowl, mix the butter and both sugars together with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the pumpkin purée and mix well.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. Spoon into the prepared muffin tins, filling each three-quarters full.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out of the tins to cool completely on a rack.

To make the icing, mix together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light. Add the vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and continue to mix until smooth. Spread a dollop of icing over each cupcake.

For more amazing recipes from Sweet Potato Chronicles, visit our special Cityline.ca section. And of course head on over to their site for tons of amazing recipes and ideas!

Photo credit Maya Visnyei 

http://www.mayavisnyei.com/