Inspired by bar food and just as yummy!
I made these a while ago now and I didn’t take a lot of photos so this will be a pretty wordy post. It’ll be worth it though because these are pretty amazing cupcakes.
The Vortex is an Atlanta institution and it serves pretty damn awesome bar food. Skipping past the burger with peanut butter and bananas that I always order, their sweet potato waffle fries that I get on the side are to die for. They serve them with marshmallow dip and the combination is awesome. When I was back home in the UK and longing for some Vortex food I thought “hey, why not make a cupcake version!” because that’s just how my brain works! And bar food is no good without a nice cold cider to go with it. And so this cupcake was born!
The actual cupcakes taste like autumn and would be great with Thanksgiving dessert, but I would eat these any time of the year. The salty pecans offset the sweetness of the marshmallow perfectly too. They’re a great cupcake and a little on the different side too, which I always love.
They’re a bit long winded to make, but it’ll be worth the effort. I didn’t make quite enough frosting so I’d recommend adding 50% or doubling the recipe below.
Caramel Cider Sauce
- 500ml apple cider
- 1 vanilla pod, split length ways
- 30g butter
- 50g light brown sugar
Put the cider in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the vanilla bean and simmer for about twenty minutes until reduced by half. Add the butter and sugar and simmer for ten more minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
Sweet Potato & Cider Cupcakes
- 115g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 225g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 225g mashed sweet potatoes, cold
- 120ml apple cider
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 190g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp bicarbinate of soda
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F and line a muffin tin with cases
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
Put the sweet potato, cider and vanilla extract in a food processor and whizz until smooth. Leave to one side.
Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and the potato mixture into the butter mixture, alternating between the two, and beat until combined.
Fill the cupcake cases two thirds full and bake in the oven for about 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and they’re springy to touch.
Remove from the pan. Saving 6 tbsp, drizzle the cider sauce over the warm cupcakes. Leave to cool.
Marshmallow Frosting
- 230g unsalted butter, room temp
- 6 tbsp cider sauce
- 212g jar of vanilla marshmallow fluff ((UK people can buy it here)
Beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add 6 tablespoons of the cider sauce and beat until incorporated. Add the marshmallow fluff and fold in until fully incorporated.
Butter Toasted Salted Cupcakes
- Large handful of pecans, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Melt the butter and stir in the pecans. Spread them out on a tray and roast in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and toss. Leave to cool. Sprinkle on top of frosted cupcakes then drizzle with any left over cider sauce.
