Baking Cupcakes Using Oven Toaster / Steaming

Easy Sweet Potato Cupcake | Baked in Oven Toaster | Steaming can work too!

Bake or Steam? Have you ever tried both of these method when baking? As a person who loves to bake but I have no gas stove or any access for a formal baking oven must be a challenge. Due to quarantine period also took me to learn lot's of things like improvising, lot's of DIY's and to budget how many left money on us was the biggest challenge nowadays. Before the quarantine began I used to sell cakes and baked to alternative ways. The first method that I tried was "Steaming". I've watched several videos and tutorial as my guide on how to bake a cake using the steaming method. Surprisingly, it was fun and it turns out good. Maybe some other time I will do some tutorial for some cakes that I used to made before like Yema Cake and Choco Moist Cake.

"Sweet potato" or "Camote" is a kind of root crops here and can be seen anywhere. I think there are 3 different kinds of Camote here in the Philippines. The violet one on the outside, the yellow one inside and out and the red one (white inside). In this recipe I bought the violet one since it was the only one available nearby store but if you'd like to made this, I would suggest that look for the yellow one. It has a sweeter taste but sometimes the violet color was less sweeter so choose wisely.

Today I try baking on an Oven toaster, the classic type of electric ovens. Do you have oven toaster at home? Nowadays, some people don't used oven toaster anymore. They switch into microwave ovens and I don't find any wrong for that. I could say that Oven Toaster was frequently used as a toaster for breads, not a baking thing. So today, I will show you that process, the struggle and what it looks like when baking in an Oven Toaster. Let's us start by preparing your ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of All Purpose Flour (ordinary flour can be used too)
2-3 pcs. of medium size Camote/Sweet Potato (Boiled and mashed)
1 cup of brown sugar
⅓ cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp of baking powder
½ tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 whole egg
1 tsp of violet food color (optional)
1 tsp of vanilla extract (optional)
12 pcs. of any cupcake liners


Here's how:

1. Wash the sweet potato and boil until soft. The time consume will depend in your stove but make it sure not to over do it, not too soft and not too hard to mash it.

2. Peel of the skin of sweet potato, leave to cool at least 5 minutes then mash with fork or any masher that you have. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda, water, oil, salt, egg and vanilla extract. Gently fold in until no left lumps and remember do not over mix. Add the mash sweet potato 'till well combine. Add 1 tsp. of violet food color for additional color but that is optional.

4. Pre-heated your oven toaster for 5 minutes. Select the "Dual mode heat" for better baking. If steaming, make sure that your water was already boiling before putting your cupcakes.

5. Scoop ⅓ cup of the batter and you can also use a spoon. Leave at least ⅔ of the batter so it won't over flow when it starting rise. I used a 3oz cupcake liners and you can put 6 pieces of cupcakes in a regular size oven toaster.

Note: Since we are using an oven toaster, there is no adjustment on our cupcakes, what I did was I set the timer every 5 minutes so I have a chance to rotate the cupcakes on the other side to cook the cupcakes evenly. You may have some burnt sides of the cupcakes because it is more direct on top but for me that's not a big deal. I liked the taste with a bit crunch of it :D

6. For steaming, I would highly suggest that you do it one layer or two. Cover the lid with a clean cloth to prevent the water drops on your cupcakes. Steam for 10-15 minutes on a medium to low heat.

7. As always do the "Toothpick Check" for both methods to test if it's done. A slight touch on top of the cupcakes works too. If it's springs back it's already cook well. If you have still a wet crumbs and it jiggles you need to bake it for few minutes and keep an eye for it.

8. Now you can take it out and let it cool for few minutes. Make sure to put the cupcakes on a wire rack or any kind of rack that the air can circulate freely on your cupcakes.

Note: Make sure that you won't attempt to eat these cupcakes while hot. There's a tendency that your cupcake liner will stick on your cake so serve this completely cool down.

You can now enjoy the fruit of your labor! I made 2 dozen of Sweet Potato Cupcakes. However, though it may not look a perfect cupcakes, l assure you that it tastes delicious and moist. The sweet potato combine well. If you have a lot of ingredients left in your pantry, you can add nuts or even your own frosting. I am glad that I am able to bake this one while on a quarantine time here in the Philippines. Stay tune for my next food blog guys! Keep safe and reward yourself a little bit sometime with some comfort food like this :D