This sweet potato chocolate cake is delightfully soft and moist with lots of rich chocolate flavor. It’s less sweet than a classic chocolate cake, and is sweetened with your choice of maple syrup or regular sugar.
Ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Sweet potato makes the cake denser and fudgy. We are going to steam and then puree the sweet potato for the cake. I haven’t tested this recipe with canned sweet potato puree. You really can’t taste the sweet potato in this cake at all!
Granulated sugar OR maple syrup. The cake made with sugar is slightly fluffier, whereas the cake made with maple syrup has a caramelly depth of flavor. If using maple syrup, you’ll need to reduce the quantity of milk – please check the notes of the gray recipe card for details.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a deep chocolate flavor. The cocoa is the main flavor of the cake so please use a brand of cocoa powder that you enjoy!
Neutral oil for texture and moisture. Sweet potato is naturally starchy and can make cakes a little ‘chewy’. However, the oil counteracts this and makes the cake soft and tender. I haven’t tested this recipe with any oil substitute.
Dairy-free chocolate. We’re using a small amount of melted chocolate for extra depth of flavor. It also adds some structure to the cake, so it’s less likely to develop a dense line at the bottom. I used a semi-sweet dark chocolate.
This cake has been adapted from my chocolate beetroot cake!
Making sweet potato puree
For the best results, I recommend steaming or boiling your sweet potato. Once it has cooled, blend it using a food processor or blender.
The sweet potato loses around 10-15% of its weight after cooking. You will need ¾ cup (165g) of pureed sweet potato for the cake and around 2 tablespoons (30g) for decorating.
If your sweet potato is too thick for your appliance, add around ½ cup (125g) of milk from the recipe and blend again.
How to make the cake
This chocolate sweet potato cake is easy to make as you mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the wet ingredients until combined.
For the best results, I recommend:
- Measure your flour accurately. If you’re using measuring cups, please use the spoon and level method. Packing too much flour into your cups will make your cake dry. Alternatively, use an electric kitchen scale and the grams measurements.
- Make sure you use room-temperature ingredients otherwise your chocolate may set before you stir the batter. If you want to be extra safe, you can mix the melted chocolate with some liquid (either the sweet potato or milk) before adding to the dry ingredients.
- Avoid overmixing the batter. This cake is very forgiving however, overmixing any cake will make it dense, tough and chewy.
The final cake batter will have a similar consistency to pancake batter, and be thicker than a regular chocolate cake batter. I tested this cake with varying amounts of liquid and a runnier cake batter often led to a dense line at the bottom of the cake.
Baking the cake and decorating
Depending on your oven, this cake may crack on top – don’t worry, this is normal and you can cover it with frosting!
I made a simple chocolate ganache topping and sweet potato icing to decorate the cake. The cake is also delicious by itself, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of peanut butter or a sprinkle of sea salt.
Customizing this cake
Yes, you can use 1 cup (190g) of packed brown sugar for a fudgier cake, or 1 cup (160g) of coconut sugar for a slightly sweet cake. It will also work with a granulated sugar replacer, with slightly different results.
I haven’t tested it, but I imagine you can replace the maple syrup with agave syrup. I have not tested the cake with any other sweetener.
I have only tested the cake with all-purpose flour. From experience, it will work with whole wheat flour or spelt flour but I recommend adding an extra dash of milk as those flours are more absorbent.
I imagine it will work with a good gluten-free 1:1 flour such as King Arthur’s measure for measure however, I haven’t tested it. All brands of gluten-free all-purpose flours are different so the results will vary.
Yes! In the gray recipe card, tap on the number next to ‘Servings’ in the recipe card and scale up to 18 servings. The cake will bake well in 2 x 8-inch round cake pans. It will take less time to bake – try checking the cake at around 30 minutes.
More cozy vegan desserts
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Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
This sweet potato chocolate cake is delightfully soft and moist with lots of rich chocolate flavor. It’s less sweet than a classic chocolate cake, and is sweetened with your choice of maple syrup or regular sugar.
Servings: 12 serves
Ingredients
Chocolate ganache frosting (optional)
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Instructions
Make the sweet potato puree:
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Steam or boil the sweet potato for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Let the sweet potato cool.
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Puree the cooked sweet potato with a handheld blender or food processor until smooth. The puree should be thick. If it’s too thick for your appliance, add some plant-based milk from the recipe and blend again. You’ll need around ¾ cup (165g) of pureed sweet potato for the cake. Set aside any remaining puree for the frosting.
Prepare the cake:
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Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
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Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until very well combined. Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until just combined. Some lumps are fine, as long as there are no pockets of flour or wet ingredients.
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Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out mostly clean (a few moist crumbs are fine). Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
Make the frosting (while the cake is baking and cooling), optional:
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Heat the cream in a small saucepan on the stovetop or in the microwave until it is steaming. Remove from the heat then mix in the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for 3 minutes to soften the chocolate.
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Stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth ganache. Let the ganache cool at room temperature for 1-2 hours. You can also let it set in the fridge, but it won’t set evenly.
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Once it has cooled, beat it with an electric mixer until it’s fluffy and lighter in color.
Make the sweet potato frosting (optional):
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In a small bowl, mix the sweet potato puree and sweetener until combined. For a thicker frosting, use the mixture as is. For a runnier icing, add a dash of milk and mix again.
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When the cake has fully cooled, top with the cake with the chocolate ganache and sweet potato frosting. Cut the cake and serve!
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Store leftover cake can be in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If the ganache firms up in the fridge, use a warm knife to cut the cake (you can warm up your knife by holding it under running hot water).
Notes
- To make this cake with maple syrup, use ⅔ cup (225g) of maple syrup and reduce the dairy-free milk to ¾ cup (190g). Add the maple syrup at the same time as the wet ingredients.
- I used a pourable liquid cream for the ganache. Coconut cream results in a thicker ganache so I recommend adding an extra dash of milk or cream for a more spreadable frosting.
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