sweet potato pound cake

This is the perfect fall pound cake.  Your kitchen will be filled with the most wonderful smell and it really is comfort food in a cake.  It is moist, it is dense, and it's full of sweet-potatoey goodness!  Try it toasted for an extra treat.  I topped mine with a quick caramel glaze which was a great match.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake 
(from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.  Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.  Combine the milk and vanilla in a small bowl.  Set aside the milk and flour mixtures.


In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together with a mixer at high speed until light and well combined, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well each time.  Add the mashed sweet potatoes and mix at low speed for 1 minute, or until the batter is evenly mixed.


Add about half the flour mixture and beat gently, using a wooden spoon or a mixer at low speed, only until the flour disappears into the batter.  Add half the milk and mix gently to combine everything well.  Mix in the remaining flour and then the remaining milk, beating gently only until you have a thick, smooth batter.


Scrape the batter into the prepared tube pan, and bake at 350 degrees for between 60 and 75 minutes, or until the cake is evenly browned, springs back when touched gently in the centre, and a wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.


Cool in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel for 20 minutes.  Then use a table knife to loosen the cake from the pan.  Turn out the cake onto a wire rack, place it top side up, and cool to room temperature.  

Quick Caramel Glaze

This glaze sets up quickly and needs to be spread on the cake as soon as it is ready.


1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla


Combine the butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until the butter melts and blends with the brown sugar to make a smooth sauce, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the milk, and let the icing come to a gentle boil.  Stir well, remove from the heat, and add the sifted confectioner's sugar and vanilla.  Beat well with a mixer, whisk or spoon for 1 to 2 minutes, until the glaze thickens and loses a little of its shine.  Use at once.  If the glaze hardens, stir in 1 or 2 spoonfuls of evaporated milk to soften it.