Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

I had to get to this last Thanksgiving side dish today- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter.
I never watch tv, especially during the day. For some odd reason, one day my kids wanted to watch something and I flipped by the Food Network. I saw that Giada was making some side dishes for Thanksgiving and we decided to watch for a little bit.
I saw her whip up this gnocchi and I was astonished because it really seemed like it took her a few minutes to get it ready. I realize that since it was tv, they edited out some of the steps, but it really didn't take long.
My kids told me they wanted me to make this gnocchi.

I had some sweet potato puree left from when I roasted sweet potatoes awhile ago and I had recently defrosted it for the Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes. I didn't use all of the sweet potato puree for the cupcakes and I thought this would be a great way to use up the sweet potato puree I had left.
It really wasn't too difficult to mix the gnocchi together. You just add whole milk ricotta, cinnamon, salt and pepper to the sweet potato puree. Then you add flour, a little bit at a time, until you get the right consistency. That was the hardest part for me, is knowing when the gnocchi dough was the ready. I didn't want to add too much flour, but also didn't want to add too little. I am sure this is something you learn the more you make gnocchi.
The next step is dividing the dough and rolling it out into a long, snake-like rope. When I saw Giada do this, I couldn't help but think about play-doh. Then you have to shape the gnocchi.
My first batch were too big and wide, they tasted good, but looked horrible.
The second batch were the right size, but I cooked them too long, so they were mushy.
Finally, on the third batch I got it right. The shape was ok- not too big and not too small, and I cooked them just the right amount of time.
So, my analysis is, that they more you make gnocchi, the easier it becomes.

The sauce, is butter, which you brown and then you add whole sage leaves, cinnamon and pure maple syrup.

I wasn't really expecting my kids to like this dish. I made it purely out of curiousity for myself, well, and partly because my kids said they wanted me to make it, but they say that about almost everything.
I guess since my kids saw the tv episode where Giada made this, they were very interested in trying it.
They all loved it. I barely even got to have any, because they were scarfing it down.
I think this would be a really good way to serve sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, with a twist.
Fairly quick and delicious.

Recipe for Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

MSC-Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

This months MS: Cupcakes Club cupcake was chosen by Karen, who blogs over at Karen's Cookies, Cakes and More.
Karen chose the Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes for November. You can find the recipe on page 243 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.
These cupcakes are a play off of a popular Thanksgiving side dish, which combines sweet potatoes, pecans, and marshmallows. I am not really familiar with it because we never had it growing up, but I know those are the 3 ingredients.

The cupcake uses sweet potato puree from roasted sweet potatoes and since I knew quite awhile ago that this cupcake was coming up, I froze the leftover sweet potato puree I had from these Sweet Potato Biscuits, so I wouldn't have the extra step of roasting sweet potatoes (even though it isn't that difficult to roast a sweet potato, I planned ahead).
I made 1/4th of the recipe, which ended up being 6 cupcakes. I simplified the cupcake a step further by not making the candied pecans. I just toasted pecan halves in the oven and used those to top my cupcakes.
I was very skeptical about the marshmallow topping. The instructions said to make mounds of mini marshmallows, broil them, and then carefully transfer them to the tops of the cupcakes. I did just what it said and was amazed that perfect little browned mounds of marshmallows came out of the oven.
I quickly transferred the marshmallow mounds to the cupcakes and stuck a toasted pecan half into the warm topping. Perfect.
I upped the nutmeg in the cupcake and had a taste, which was wonderful.
I let my kids try one and they loved the marshmallow topping. I am definitely going to use the marshmallow topping in the future for all sorts of cupcakes. So easy and so cute. Just perfect.
I shared a couple with my hubby's co-workers and they were really well liked.
I think these would make a great addition to Thanksgiving as a dessert or even as a side!
Check out the MSC Blogroll for lots of great cupcakes!

twd- Sweet Potato Biscuits

(If you are here for The Cake Slice, I will have that post up in a few hours)

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Sweet Potato Biscuits, was chosen by Prudence Pennywise. Prudy is one of my favorite bloggers. You can find the recipe on her blog.
I have made soo many of her recipes and posted about a lot of them. She makes healthy taste delicious and she does it on a budget!

I have made these biscuits before. About a year and a half ago- when I was new to blogging.
Last time I made these biscuits with orange honey butter -check it out HERE.
I remembered how delicious they were, even though they didn't rise very much when they baked. Last time I made them I used canned sweet potatoes. This time I used a fresh sweet potato. I roasted it in the oven and mashed it.

The only problem I have had both times I made these is getting the dough to form. I end up over-mixing/kneading it because it isn't moist enough to come together.
I should have just added more sweet potato or a splash of cream/milk/half&half to make the dough come together. Next time!
They were good though.

I made the full batch and they only lasted a couple hours. My kids down these things.
Go check out the TWD Blogroll to see who got the tallest biscuits!

p.s. I actually got better height when I made a Spiced Pumpkin version from Cooking Light- get the recipe and compare the pics HERE
Recipe for Sweet Potato Biscuits can be found HERE also

One Year Ago-Hot Cocoa Chiffon Cake

Spicy Black Bean Cakes with Lime Cream

Recently, Kristina Drociak, from Stonyfield Farm, contacted me and asked me if I had heard of OIKOS Organic Greek Yogurt. She mentioned that it was a great substitute for sour cream and mayonnaise, and a wonderful way to make lower-fat dishes. I told her that I had heard of it and actually kept it in my fridge and used it as a substitute in almost every dish I prepared that called for sour cream and even in baking. I was so excited when she sent me some coupons in the mail!
I like to get the large containers of plain Oikos that I use for cooking/baking and the smaller containers that are flavored with blueberries or honey, to eat for snacks. The great thing about it, is how natural it is and also, that it isn't too sugary sweet. That is my main problem with most yogurts out there. They are so sweet and sugary, it just doesn't seem that they can really be healthy. I also like how Oikos is thick and creamy and natural.
My friends mother found this recipe for Spicy Black Bean Cakes on allrecipes.com and sent me the link because she thought it looked like something I would like. Guess what? She was sooo right.
I really love black beans and this was a really great recipe. You cook up some onion, garlic, spices and then add the black beans and mash up the mixture a little bit. Add some shredded sweet potato, an egg and bread crumbs, and you have great little patties. To keep it healthy, they are baked in the oven and they get nice and crisp.
They are paired with a spicy lime cream (This is where the Oikos came in) and I also served sliced tomatoes on the side. We had these for dinner and I will definitely make them again. Yum!

Spicy Black Bean Cakes with Lime Cream from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
Lime Sour Cream:
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream (I used Plain Oikos Greek Yogurt)
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 small fresh jalapeno pepper, minced
salt to taste
Bean Cakes:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 green onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, pressed
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 (14.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups grated raw sweet potato
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs

Directions:
1. To prepare lime sour cream, mix the sour cream, lime juice, 1 small minced jalapeno, and salt together in a small bowl. Cover, and refrigerate.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook green onions until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic, 2 diced jalapenos, and cumin; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Transfer contents of skillet to a large bowl. Stir in black beans, and mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in sweet potatoes, egg, and bread crumbs. Divide into 8 balls, and flatten into patties.
4. In the oven, set cooking rack about 4 inches from heat source. Set oven to broil. Lightly grease baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.
5. Place bean patties on baking sheet, and broil 8 to 10 minutes. Turn cakes over, and broil until crispy, about 3 minutes more. Serve with lime cream.

Up Next- TWD- Amaretti Torte

The Cake Slice- Sweet Potato Cake

This month's Cake Slice cake was Sweet Potato Cake with Chocolate Cream Frosting and Orange Cream Filling. It is the second cake that we have baked from Sky High . My baby is turning 2 on Thanksgiving, but I wanted to have a small party that wasn't on that day, so I am a couple days late posting this cake. I thought since I needed to make a cake anyway, I would just wait until her party to make this beautiful cake.
This cake is delish! I made it in jelly roll pans and then made a 5x5-inch square cake for the birthday girl, but made it 4 layers. The rest I cut into butterfly and flower shapes with cookie cutters. I left the sides unfrosted on the little cut-outs and they were pretty cute. The orange filling was a little bit runny and that is why the recipe said to pipe an outline of the chocolate frosting on the layers.
Overall, I was really pleased with this cake-we have only eaten the scraps (the party is later today), but my little girl had a few bites at breakfast and she was pretty happy. I am thinking this will taste really good with some pumpkin spice ice cream! Go see all the other beautiful cakes by checking out the Cake Slice Bakers!

Sweet Potato Cake:

2 medium or 1 large sweet potato (12 ounces)

3 cups of cake flour**

3 teaspoons of baking powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of cloves (I used allspice)

5 eggs, separated

2 and 1/4 cups of sugar

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 and 1/4 cups of milk

(**The recipe calls for cake flour and if you only have all-purpose flour on hand, you can substitute 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch.)

(*If fresh sweet potato is not available where you live you may use canned sweet potato, yams, and pumpkin puree)

Makes a 9-inch triple layer cake, serves 16-20 people

1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes in 2-3 places, place on a small baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until the potatoes are very soft. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms and the sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper also.

3. When the sweet potatoes are cool peel off the skin and remove any dark spots. Cut the potatoes into chunks and puree in a food processors. Puree until smooth. Measure out one cup of potato puree and set aside.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Set aside.

5. In the bowl of electric mixer add the egg whites and attach whip attachment. Beat on medium speed until egg whites are frothy. raise the speed to high and gradually beat in 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are moderately stiff.

6. In another large bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sweet potato, butter, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after each egg yolk is added. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk in alternately in 2-3 additions. making sure to begin and end with the dry ingredients.

7. With a large spatula, fold in one fourth of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks remain. Making sure to not over mix or this will deflate the batter. Divide the batter among of the three pans.

8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out the cake layers onto a wire rack and cool completely at least 1 hour.

9. To assemble the cake, place one layer flat side up on to a cake stand. With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip and filled with chocolate cream cheese icing, pipe border around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with the orange cream filling smoothing it to the edge of the border. Place the second layer on top and repeat the process. Place the third layer on top and use all the chocolate cream cheese frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Cream Frosting:

makes 3 cups

10 ounces cream cheese*** at room temperature

1 stick of butter at room temperature

16 ounces of powdered sugar; sifted

1 and 1/2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled (I used bittersweet baking chocolate)

(***1 cup of cream cheese maybe substituted with 1 cup pureed cottage cheese OR 1 cup plain yogurt, strained overnight in a cheesecloth OR equal amounts of neufatel cheese)

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar to cream cheese butter mixture. Making sure to scrape down the sides the sides of the bowl. Then beat until light fluffy 2-3 minutes.

2. Measure out 1 cup of frosting and set aside.

3. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining icing in the bowl and beat until well combined.

Orange Cream Filling:

1 cup of reserved cream cheese icing from above

2 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/4 teaspoon of orange extract

1. Stir together all the ingredients until well mixed.

Up Next- Cookie Carnival- Chocolate Chip Cookies

Swwt Potato Biscuits with Orange Honey-Butter

Once again, Dorie is my go-to girl. I always check her cookbook, Baking from my home to yours, when I am going to bake something. These biscuits disappeared! They had great texture and flavor and the honey-butter made them taste like orange rolls! Yummy!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbls baking powder

1 tsp salt

pinch of ground cinnamon or nutmeg (I did more like a dash of both)

2 Tbls packed light brown sugar

3/4 stick (6 Tbls) cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

2 15-oz cans sweet potatoes in light syrup, drained and mashed (I used 1 29-oz can)

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Get out a sharp 2-to 2 1/4-inch diameter biscuit citter, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and spice, together in a bowl. Add the brown sugar and stir to incorporate it, making sure there are no lumps. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat it with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces and pieces the size of oatmeal flakes, as well as everything in between- and that's just right.

Add the sweet potatoes to the bowl, grab a fork, and toss and gently turn the ingredients until you've got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick, gentle kneading-3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands until it is about 1/2-inch high. Don't worry if the dough isn't completely even-a quick, light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of this first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2-inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer those to the sheet.

Bake the biscuits for 14 to 18 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown. Transfer them to a cooking rack or eat immediately!

Orange Honey-Butter from Cooking Light

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp (or more) grated orange rind

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth.