Happy Birthday November!

    It's that time of the month again....time to celebrate all of the November birthdays at school.  It feels like I just finished October's cake but a quick look at the calendar proved that November is flying by.  This month I opted for cupcakes since I had pulled this recipe for Chocolate Filled Sweet Potato Cupcakes from my November Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  This little treats filled our house with sweetness...a sneak preview of all the goodness that will come with Thanksgiving baking later this week.

Chocolate Filled Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 lb sweet potatoes; roasted, peeled, and mashed
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
24 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Frosting
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup (minus 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, sofened
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Line two cupcake tins with parchment paper or cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set this aside.
3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter for about 30 seconds.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Set the mixer to low and beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Stir in the sweet potato, milk, and vanilla and beat on low until combined.
4. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
5. Fill the prepared cupcake liners until they are 3/4 full.
6. Bake 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the oven.  Add one Hershey Kiss to each cupcake, point side up.  Push the Kiss about halfway into the mixture.  The Kisses will slowly sink into the cupcakes as they continue to bake.  Return the pans to the oven and bake for 14 additional minutes.
7. Remove cupcakes from the oven.  Allow to cool about 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. For the frosting, bring about 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan.  Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl over the simmering water.  Use a rubber spatula to stir until the chocolate is smooth and melted.  Remove and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
9. With an electric mixer, beat the chocolate for 30 seconds on low.  Next beat in the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time.  Add the sugar and beat until smooth.  Frost each cupcake.

The Taste Test

     I always say that whatever you put in the staff room, people will eat.  I know I have just popped my head in, from time to time, to see if there are any treats for a quick pick me up.  I hope that when some of my colleagues stick their heads in, their days are brightened by the sight of my homemade treats.  I guess it's a good sign, that this is the third month I have baked birthday cakes and each day when I go back to retrieve my plates, there is nothing left.  I heard some positive reviews for these cupcakes.  I sampled the cupcake I cut in half for the picture above and thought that the gooey frosting was complimented nicely by the cake.  These weren't hard to make, however, there were a lot of steps so this was not a quick recipe.  Also, I think that the recipe called for a bit too much butter in the frosting.  Adding a full cup of butter to the chocolate chips left the frosting kind of runny.  I had to add extra powdered sugar.