Sweet Potato Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is such a lovely fall treat! You can definitely use pumpkin or even butternut squash if you prefer but I love what the sweet potato adds to this recipe. It has a slightly surprising addition of Chinese five spice which adds a little bit more depth than the usual pumpkin pie spice. You can use a blend of pumpkin pie spices if you don’t have Chinese five spice in the pantry.

You can definitely use an electric hand mixer for this recipe but honestly, I just mix it by hand! This cake freezes very well too. You can freeze it in individual portions too. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and pop in the freezer.

Sweet Potato Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

• 1-1/2 tsps cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1-1/2 tsps baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1-1/2 tsps Chinese five spice

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1-1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1-1/2 cups cooked sweet potato, mashed*

Directions:

Streusel:

1. In a small bowl, combine streusel’s dry ingredients. Using a spatula or your fingers, mix in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Generously grease an angel food cake pan. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, Chinese five spice and salt.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add in eggs and beat until smooth and pale colour. Add a third of the dry ingredients and stir. Add half of the milk and alternate with dry ingredients until the batter is almost fully combined. Stir in the sweet potato and mix until fully combined.

4. Spoon half of the batter into the cake pan and smooth over slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle with half of the streusel mixture. Top with the rest of the batter and smooth over slightly. Top with the remaining streusel mixture.

5. Place the cake in the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the bake time. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the centre of the cake. It should come out clean with a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack. To remove from the pan, run a butter knife or off-set spatula to loosen the sides and unmold. Enjoy!

Note: I bake the sweet potatoes in the oven or in the microwave until it is very soft. I usually use one very large sweet potato or two medium-sized ones for this recipe. Let it come to room temperature and mash.