Thursday, October 16, 2014

There is nothing scary about these super-cute, gluten-free Halloween treats!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts
Perfect for a Halloween gathering, these sweet potato cupcakes with meringue ghosts are off-the-charts charming! Hunter Bergtorf, of VivianAndMe.com fame, knocked it out of the park with these gluten-free cupcakes with vegan buttercream frosting. But it’s the meringue ghosts that take the (cup)cake in our opinion.

Desserts can be a challenge for folks with food allergies. Known for it's aromatics, our Tahitian vanilla extract is the perfect addition to your next gluten-free recipe—because we use grain-free alcohol! Learn how we keep allergens out of our extract. Get your 100% pure, grain-free, gluten-free, allergy-free, vegan, kosher, Tahitian vanilla extract here.

Now go preheat the oven. Here is the recipe from VivianAndMe.com.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Meringue Ghosts

Author: Vivian & Me
Serves: 18

Ingredients


For the cupcakes:
- 1 15-ounce box gluten-free yellow cake mix
- 3 eggs
- ⅔ cup water
- ½ cup vegan butter (1 stick)
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract (buy now)
- 2 medium sized sweet potatoes
- ½ cup brown sugar

For the maple frosting:
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- Sprinkles (for topping)

For the meringue ghosts:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- pinch of cream of tartar
- black icing gel
- toothpick

Instructions


Cupcakes:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap the sweet potatoes in tin foil and bake for 2 hours, or until sweet potatoes are soft to the touch. I do this the night before and then just refrigerate them.
2) Lower oven heat to 350 degrees F.
3) In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together the cake mix, water, butter, vanilla and eggs on low speed for 30 seconds and then medium speed for 2 minutes.
4) While the batter is mixing, peel and mash the sweet potatoes and measure out 1½ cups. Place in with the batter, add the brown sugar, and mix until smooth.
5) Pour the sweet potato batter into cupcake liners, filling each paper about ¾ of the way full.
6) Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, and then turn off the oven and let the cupcakes sit for 5 more minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool completely.

Maple Frosting:
1) In the stand mixer, whisk together the butter and shortening. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and whisk together. Pour in the maple syrup in slowly while the mixer is on low and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Meringue Ghosts:
1) In a double boiler, or a saucepan with a glass bowl, pour 3 inches of water into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and place the glass bowl on top. Pour the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar into the glass bowl and whisk together until the sugar completely dissolves, about 5-7 minutes. You can tell when you rub your fingers together with the mixture. If there's no graininess, then the sugar is dissolved.
2) Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into the stand mixer. Whisk on high for 7-10 minutes until stiff peaks form and your mixture turns into meringue.

Put It All Together:
1) Using a piping bag with a large round tip, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. In a small bowl with sprinkles, flip the cupcakes over and press the frosting into the sprinkles so the sprinkles completely coat the frosting.
2) Next, using a piping bag with a large round tip as well, pipe the meringue onto the cupcakes on top of the frosting by pressing down and making a large round circle, then releasing the pressure a little and then press down again to make another ghost layer, then release, and press down the last time while lifting to make the top of the ghost. Stick a toothpick into the black icing gel and press the toothpick end into the meringue lightly to create the eyes and mouth.
3) Serve at any Halloween get together for a spooky good time!