Spiced Sweet Potato Cake
This gluten free sweet potato cake is perfectly spiced, easy to make and topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. It’s perfect for a fun Fall baking activity, Thanksgiving showstopper or just a fun dessert!
Fall baking is in full swing and I truly couldn’t be happier. We’ve covered a lot in the pumpkin and apple realm, with my gluten free pumpkin cake and apple crisp being among my favorites, so I thought this year we’d get into sweet potato territory.
This sweet potato cake is perfectly spiced with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and made with freshly baked sweet potatoes for that perfectly sweet flavor. It has a light and tender crumb and is topped with a cream cheese buttercream – the same recipe as my gluten free red velvet cake. It’s a nice break from all the pumpkin recipes we’re getting this time of year, but still has all the same fresh Fall flavors we’re craving!
Before we get started…
- I recommend using fresh sweet potato puree from baked potatoes, but if you are in a pinch, you can get away with using canned sweet potato puree. I do not recommend boiling then mashing the potatoes as they won’t be as sweet.
- I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour here, but I have also tested it with King Arthur which works really well!
How to make sweet potato cake
If you haven’t already, bake your sweet potatoes at 400 (whole and unpeeled) until fork tender. Scoop out the flesh and blend until smooth. Measure out two cups and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the melted but cooled butter, oil, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the remaining wet ingredients, including the sweet potato puree. Beat until combined.
Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour, don’t scoop from the bag. Beat just until combined, careful not to over mix. Divide the batter into your prepared pans.
Bake for 35-42 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the baking pans for about 15 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the buttercream, beat together the butter and cream cheese until well combined. Beat in the powdered sugar about 2 cups at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla. Wait until the cake has cooled completely before frosting.
Frost the top of one layer, then add the second layer on top and frost the top and sides. I added some caramel sauce and crushed pecans on top, but it’s also delish just as is. Enjoy and try my sweet potato cookies next!
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Key ingredients & swaps
Flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour. I recommend sticking to a GF all purpose flour that has xanthan gum, King Arthur also works well. If you are not gluten free, you can likely swap for just regular all purpose flour, but I am not able to test my recipes this way and cannot guarantee the results.
Butter. You need butter for the frosting and cake, but you can definitely swap for a vegan butter like Earth Balance for a dairy free option. Same goes for the cream cheese – just make sure it is plain and doesn’t have any flavors added.
Eggs. You need four whole eggs for this cake, so I do not recommend any substitutions. Instead, try my vegan pumpkin cake but you can swap the pumpkin for sweet potato.
Sugar. I used a mix of white and brown sugar to give this cake a fluffy texture but balanced flavor. You can use all white sugar or all brown sugar if that’s what you have, but I do not recommend any liquid sweeteners here.
How to store and freeze
Once prepared, this gluten free sweet potato cake will keep for about 3-5 days at room temperature or 5-7 in the fridge. Because of the cream cheese frosting, I generally advise to store in the fridge once it’s fully prepared. Because there is butter in the cake itself, it will firm up a bit, so bring it to room temperature before serving.
You can also freeze this sweet potato cake before frosting! Just allow the layers to cool completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 1 month. You can frost right from frozen, but let thaw before serving.
Cake pan options
I made two 8 inch cakes, but you can definitely do two 9 inch, just shorten the bake time a bit since the layers will be thinner. You can also make this in three 6 inch cakes, just add 5-10 minutes of bake time. A 9×13 sheet cake also works and the bake time will be around 35-40 minutes. All ovens are different though so just be sure to keep an eye on it!
More Fall recipes to try next!
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Sweet Potato Cake
by: claire cary
Equipment
Ingredients
Wet
- 2 cups sweet potato puree see notes
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted then cooled slightly
- ¼ cup oil
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry
- 2 ½ cups gluten free all purpose baking flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces plain cream cheese
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon optional
Instructions
- If you haven’t already, bake your sweet potatoes at 400 (whole and unpeeled) until fork tender. Scoop out the flesh and blend until smooth. Measure out two cups and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the melted but cooled butter, oil, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Add in the remaining wet ingredients, including the sweet potato puree. Beat until combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour, don’t scoop from the bag. Beat just until combined, careful not to over mix.
- Divide the batter into your prepared pans.
- Bake for 35-42 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the baking pans for about 15 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- To make the buttercream, beat together the butter and cream cheese until well combined.
- Beat in the powdered sugar about 2 cups at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla. Wait until the cake has cooled completely before frosting.
- Frost the top of one layer, then add the second layer on top and frost the top and sides. I added some caramel sauce and crushed pecans on top, but it’s also delish just as is. Enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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Cake was delicious. The texture was moist, not crumbly for gluten free. I used coconut sugar instead of white and only 1/2 cup of brown sugar. The frosting, I used only 2 cups of powder sugar. I was looking to lower sugar content and use less refined sugars. Great recipe and taste! Thanks.
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So glad it worked with those changes! Thanks, Kelli!
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