A week ago I boiled some large "yams" (actually orange sweet potatoes), one of which did not get eaten. I was gone for a few days, and found that lone yam still languishing in a soup bowl in the fridge when I returned. Other family members had not been inspired to eat it, apparently.
After calling my sister for a second opinion on its probable edibility, I peeled it, sliced it and gave it a few minutes in the microwave to finish cooking; the yams had been a bit on the crunchy side when we first ate them.
Next, I got out my ancient potato masher and went to work on those slices until they were nicely mushy.
After packing the mashed yam into a measuring cup, I could see I had just about 1.5 cups of mashed yam. Now, to find a recipe that called for that amount! I had in mind to look for a pumpkin bread or muffin recipe, figuring a mashed yam is orange and about the same texture and ought to substitute nicely for pumpkin. After all, I substitute squash in those recipes all the time.
It wasn't long before I located a recipe my daughter had shared with me a few years ago: Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins. I won't write out the recipe in this post, because you can find it here.
When I get caught up in the measuring and mixing, I forget to take pictures of the process. So here is a picture of the last bit of batter in the bowl. It looked a bit lumpy, to me, even though I used an electric mixer to combine the wet ingredients.
To my amazement, this recipe makes 15 muffins, just like it says it will! I usually end up with a lot more muffins than the recipe claims it will make, so this was a pleasant surprise. I know I made these before (with pumpkin or squash), but that was a forgotten detail.
The crumb topping wasn't as crumbly as I'd prefer, another detail I had forgotten, but which soon came to mind as I mixed up the topping ingredients. It doesn't really crumble; it just makes small lumps. But it works, and it tastes good.
And here is the finished product! They turned out beautifully, and taste delicious. You'd never know it was made with a leftover yam instead of pumpkin.
Note: the recipe calls for frosting, but I didn't make that part. Two family members have blood sugar issues, and I figured I had already caused enough trouble for them by not reducing the amount of sugar in the muffins or the topping. As my father would have said, frosting those already-sweet muffins would have been gilding the lily!