Sweet Potato Cake
I almost never bake cakes. It’s not that they’re any trickier than cookies or muffins but I just don’t want a cake hanging around the house. Not only do I not need it calling out to me at 9:30 pm but it also is a siren for the kids who, if they know there is cake, will ask for it after every meal. Or in Julian’s case, he will toddle into the kitchen, point up to about where it is on the counter and yell. Dessert after dinner? Whatever lady, hand it over!
But this recipe is loaded with vegetables and fruit and has very little “cake” to it at all. It’s a lot like a carrot cake but I like the extra nutrition kick you get from sweet potatoes. This was my first time out with wholewheat pastry flour and I’m now a convert. I usually cut regular flour with wholewheat when I’m baking but this way you don’t have to.
The cake is really quick to put together and has plenty of steps kids can help with. Esme floated down after pretending to nap and helped me with her excellent mixing skills. And then asked me, “Is the cake ready yet?” every three minutes until it was. Before this delicious cake could ruin our lives I packed up half of it and brought it in to the office. Now that SPC is sharing office space I have people I can share pesky cakes with. Phew.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cup wholewheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup wheat bran
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 sweet potato peeled and grated
- 1 large apple, peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup raisins
- For the glaze:
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1/4 cup cream cheese
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together flour, wheat bran, baking soda, baking flour and spices in a bowl.
Grate the sweet potato and cut the peeled apple into fairly small dice.
Thoroughly blend before adding nuts and raisins and mixing again
Whisk the brown sugar, maple syrup and egg until frothy.
Pour over the sweet potato mixture and blend well.
Combine the flour and sweet potato mixture.
It will seem like it's not wet enough to be a cake batter. Fear not! This is a very moist cake in the end.
Grease your pan and also line with parchment paper on the bottom.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and place in a hot oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Blend all the glaze ingredients until smooth. Spread evenly over completely cooled cake.
You might also like
Carrot Soup
I have friends who use their Sundays to cook for the week, or a good bit of the week. They’ll make two or three things that freeze and re-heat well
Green’s week: Kale, Feta and Carrot Super Toss
This is actually a very retro post. All the way back to December 1, 2010. However, today of all days, I had to pull it out of the archives. Don’t
Roasted Cauliflower Tacos
If you’d asked me three months ago if we ate a lot of vegetarian meals as a family, I would have said, “Oh, yes, tons of meals! Most of our
Hey, thanks for stopping by!
We're Ceri and Laura, a couple of magazine-editors-turned-food-bloggers. Also, we're mothers obsessed with delicious, healthy, family food. We're constantly thinking of ways to make your time (and our own!) in the kitchen easier and more productive, but still nostalgic for the days when dinner was cereal eaten over the kitchen sink.
5 Comments
Adriana Ermter
November 25, 10:31Ceri, I love this post! I don’t know why it warms my heart so much, maybe the description of Julian toddling over to the counter. And now, of course, I want cake. xxoo Adriana
Ceri Marsh
November 25, 10:36Thanks lady! Hey are you out West for Christmas? Maybe a guest post with Mara and her Auntie Nan?
Rani
November 25, 11:16This cake looks so delicious. I think I’m going to try veganizing/gluten-freeing it over on our blog…! Bit of a long shot but you never know.
Ceri Marsh
November 25, 11:20What would you do, take the egg out? And use spelt maybe? Just don’t back off on the baking soda and powder – my first time out with this cake was a wet lump!
Have you seen Good to the Grain cookbook? It’s a baking cookbook broken down into different flours – barley, oats, spelt, corn, teff. Super gorgeous and informative.
Let me know how it goes!
Adipex 375
January 29, 23:36Is there anybody who can talk to things like Qsymia or Phentermine as a part of a fat loss plan.