White Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake
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Martha Stewart Living, November 1996
- Yield Serves 8 to 10
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Ingredients
- 2 pounds (about 3) sweet potatoes
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- Unsalted butter, for pans
- 2 cups cake flour, (not self-rising), plus more for pans
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons brandy
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
- 1 pound white chocolate
- 2 cups heavy cream
Directions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat potatoes with 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and place on baking sheet. Bake until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove skin, and mash flesh with a fork into coarse puree.
- Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Butter two 8-by-1 1/2-inch round cake pans, dust with flour, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup vegetable oil; beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the cooled sweet potatoes; mix until combined.
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; mix into sweet potato mixture. Mix in vanilla and brandy until combined. Remove batter from mixer; fold in 1 cup macadamia nuts by hand.
- Evenly distribute cake batter into prepared pans, and transfer to the oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let pans cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; cool completely, about 1 1/4 hours.
- Meanwhile, chop white chocolate into small pieces; set aside. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil; pour over chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Chill for 30 to 40 minutes.
- When chocolate mixture has cooled, pour remaining cup cream into an electric mixer; whip on medium until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture until fully incorporated.
- Cut each cake layer in half horizontally, creating four layers. Spread 2/3 cup chocolate frosting on one layer, then stack next layer on top, and frost. Repeat frosting-and-stacking process until each layer is frosted. Spread remaining frosting on sides and top of cake. Arrange remaining 1/2 cup macadamia nuts on top of cake, and serve.
Yes, after many years of making this cake...and I mean over 7 years! I FINALLY got the icing right! Although, runny icing is still good- I was happy to finally get the correct consistency of it...without having to quickly ice it after every layer or even refrigerate it over night! Love it!
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I have made this cake several times, and my family and friends love it and crave it. I found that my icing was also runny. I made sure that the runny icing was fully refrigerated and then whipped it for about 3-4 minutes. This made it a good, thick consistency for icing the cake.
i do so love these flavours together! amazing, however i found the icing to be way too runny.
This is a wonderful cake... It was a huge hit at the Thanksgiving dinner I brought it to... I also had a problem with the icing though... The cake must be completely cool before icing - I ended up refrigerating it overnight... also the white chocolate/heavy cream mix needs to be room temperature or even cooler before folding in the whipped cream... I ended up refrigerating the icing overnight and it worked much better than when I tried to ice as the directions instruct...
This is a wonderful cake... It was a huge hit at the Thanksgiving dinner I brought it to... I also had a problem with the icing though... The cake must be completely cool before icing - I ended up refrigerating it overnight... also the white chocolate/heavy cream mix needs to be room temperature or even cooler before folding in the whipped cream... I ended up refrigerating the icing overnight and it worked much better than when I tried to ice as the directions instruct...
This cake was beautiful to serve and was delicous. I get requests for it all the time.
I omitted the nuts due to allergies.
Correction: I wasn't using the right amount of chocolate, and that is why my frosting never set! Make sure you are using 16 oz. of chocolate, not 8 like I was!
My frosting never set up. I chilled the chocolate cream mix for 30 minutes in the fridge, then added the whipped heavy cream. It was still waaaaaay too runny. Where did I go wrong?
If you don't want to use brandy, apple cider works nicely!
This cake is SO delicious! I made it for Thanksgiving and it was a wonderful addition. For those who like carrot cake this is a nice change, my cousin was convinced it was carrot cake! As for the frosting, while delicious it was way, way to loose to frost with. I recommend following the directions as is, then refrigerating it for several hours or even overnight. Then, let it soften slightly at room temp and go ahead and frost. After frosting, serve soon after or refrigerate until ready to serve
Made this for Thanksgiving - came out wonderful! even the kids liked it! I rinsed nuts also and let them dry out really good. Made the potatoes the day before to save time. Used white choc chips instead of block choc - mistake, made frosting come out lumpy. Decided not to frost top, just layers. Good call, it was sweet with just a dusting of powdered sugar on top and nuts. Will make again.
had a lot of potential....not sure what happened but was the last cup of heavy cream a bit much??...it was WAY to watery to put on the cake....has this happened to anybody else....??
Does this cake need to be refrigerated after frosting??
iwant to try it
Been there too...I actually rinsed the nuts before I roasted them and subbed Grand Marnier for the Brandy...mmmmm
Been there too...I actually rinsed the nuts before I roasted them and subbed Grand Marnier for the Brandy...mmmmm
This is a great recipe! I didn't have brandy, and couldn't find unsalted macadamia nuts so I'm sure it would have been even better with those additions. Still tasted fabulous without. I'm making it for the second time tonight!
HEY SET2SMILES-- HAVENT SEEN YOUR PRETTY FACE SINCE END OF LAST YEAR. THINK VALENTINE DAY! I NEVER LIKED YAM OR SWEET POTATOES, NOT THE WAY MOST PEOPLE MADE IT. WILL TRY THIS AFTER READING YOUR COMMENT. THANKS. ROMA
This is such a great hit! Even the fussiest non-yammies love it! A great addition to thanksgiving and Christmas tables.