get the recipe
Sweet Potato Spice Cake
Servings: 12 slices
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Chill Time: 2 hrs
Total Time: 3 hrs 50 mins
A fall spice cake made with sweet potato and frosted with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting.
Spice cake:
- 1 large sweet potato
- 3 cups cake flour (360 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs
- 2 cups packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (140 grams), at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk (310 ml)
Cream cheese buttercream:
- 10 ounces cream cheese (285 grams), at room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113 grams), at room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar (455 grams), sifted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prick the sweet potato with a fork, and bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the potato is soft. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Peel off skin and remove any dark spots. Put into a food processor and puree until smooth or mash with a vegetable masher. Measure one cup of puree for this recipe.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 or 9 inch cake pans lined with parchment paper on the bottoms.
In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and mix on medium high speed until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add the sweet potato puree and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the milk, ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix on low until combined, then increase speed to high and beat until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
To assemble the cake:
If desired,
split cake layers in half making 4 cake layers total.
Stack the layers of cake on a cake stand or plate, spreading approximately 3/4 cup frosting in between each layer. Top with remaining frosting.
Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Store in the fridge.
NOTES:
- The frosting recipe makes enough frosting to fill and cover 2 cake layers, but if you split the 2 layers to make 4 total, you may only have enough frosting to fill and top the cake (but not enough to cover the sides). If you'd like to cover the entire 4-layer cake with frosting, consider doubling the recipe.
Adapted from Sky High Cakes.
Sodium: 232mg, Calcium: 164mg, Vitamin C: 1mg, Vitamin A: 2467IU, Sugar: 78g, Fiber: 1g, Potassium: 336mg, Cholesterol: 138mg, Calories: 684kcal, Saturated Fat: 15g, Fat: 27g, Protein: 9g, Carbohydrates: 104g, Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Annalise