NEWS! I have just posted my , go check out that version too!
This Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake really takes the cake.
Looking for a healthy cake that’s full of dense, chocolate flavor? This vegan chocolate cake is fresh and moist, and the cake and frosting are both made with sweet potatoes. Oh yes!
Yes, a long recipe name. Worth every syllable, because this healthy chocolate cake is a PPF sensation.
And, do we really need another chocolate cake recipe?
What makes this Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake special?
You could say this one is special because it’s vegan, whole-grain, oil-free.
Or, that it’s special because it has nutrient-dense sweet potatoes in both the frosting and cake.
But, I think it’s special in that the whole is far more than the sum of its parts.
And, it’s special because of how readers are embracing it, and celebrating special family times with this recipe!
I was pretty fond of this recipe when I created it. My family was too. But, I truly didn’t know how all of you would feel about it.
It’s not a classic chocolate cake with a hefty dose of sugar and fat.
So, I wondered how well a ‘chocolate sweet potato cake’ would be accepted!
I had a fair idea through recipe testing, when one of my (very) oil-free-skeptical friends tried it for the first time.
He didn’t know it was oil-free, and said he was shocked because it was one of the best chocolate cakes he had tasted!
Then, other reports came in from testers – and now from many of you.
Our facebook group has been posting pic after pic of this cake, and it’s become a bit of a sensation in the group!
That’s it, I couldn’t resist any longer.
This Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake recipe is now yours, all yours.
Dig in, guys! x Dreena
This recipe is reprinted from Plant-Powered Families. Thanks for your continued support and reviews.
P.S. I use my Blendtec with the standard jar or WildSide jar for this sauce – if you want to shop, use Blendtec Coupon Code: YAY-BLENDTEC at checkout for 20% off.
Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sweets Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- 3/4 cup peeled cooked, and cooled orange sweet potato (see note)
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon water divided
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole-grain spelt flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup mini or regular nondairy chocolate chips
- 1/2 tsp scant sea salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tsp scant baking soda
Frosting
- 1 cup loosely packed peeled cooked, and cooled sweet potato (see note)
- 2/3 – 3/4 cup coconut sugar or other unrefined sugar see note
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup scant raw cashew butter or almond butter
- 1/4 tsp rounded sea salt
- 2-5 tbsp nondairy milk see tip
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly coat an 8” x 8” brownie/cake pan or a 9” round cake pan with coconut or other oil, and fit the bottom of the pan with a small piece of parchment paper.
- In a blender (or using a handheld blender and a deep cup or vessel), puree the sweet potato, 1/2 cup of the water, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and vanilla extract until completely smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut sugar, chocolate chips, and sea salt, then sift in the cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry (be sure to scrape out all the blended ingredients with a spatula, and use the remaining 1 tablespoon of water to rinse the blender jar and get out any remaining puree).
- Mix until just well incorporated.
- Transfer to the prepared pan, bake for 21–23 minutes, remove, and let cool on a cooling rack.
Frosting:
- Place the sweet potato, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, cashew butter, sea salt, 1–2 tablespoons of the milk, and vanilla extract in a blender or food processor and puree until very smooth.
- It’s best to use a blender or processor (versus a stand mixer) if using orange sweet potato, to fully smooth out the potato.
- Taste, and add more sweetener if desired, and also another 2–3 tablespoons of milk if needed to thin to preferred consistency (you may need more milk using yellow sweet potato as they aren’t quite as moist as the orange).
- Puree until smooth, scraping down the blender/processor bowl as needed.
- Transfer to a container and refrigerate until ready to use on the Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake. Or, get a spoon and dig in!
Notes
- Cake Note:
- Frosting Notes:
This post was originally published in November 2015 and updated on January 24, 2022.
Kerstin Rosee says
My near vegan daughter was asking for a cake for her birthday today so we made cupcakes from your recipe. They turned out absolutely beautiful. The frosting is good enough to eat on its own (and since it is a generous portion, that might be exactly what I’ll do with the leftovers).
I can see this becoming a family favourite for birthdays and celebrations. Thank you for the recipe.
Kerstin
Dreena says
Just fabulous, thanks Kerstin! I may have made that frosting serving generous just for that reason. 😉
Tammy says
Made this as cupcakes. Cooked for 25 minutes. They were absolutely delicious. Took to a party and every single one was eaten with many non plant based friends going back for seconds. A double cake batch made 21 regular sized cupcakes. Did not need to double the frosting. One batch was more than enough. Thank you for this awesome recipe.
Brandie foster says
Made this last night and it’s sooooo good!!! Do you happen to have the nutritional info? Thank you so much for sharing!
Dreena says
oh wonderful! I don’t have the nutritional breakdown, sorry, but you can enter it online if you like, here’s a site: http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Heather says
Do people who do not like sweet potatoes still like this?
Dreena says
I’ve heard from some readers that their fam members that don’t like sweet spuds didn’t know!
Emma Soji says
my heritic husband swears he hates sweet potato so I was happy and sheepishly pleased to hear he loved these chocolate treats. Great recipe
Heather says
OMG! Made this today for a family bday cake and my husband who hates sweet potatoes had NO IDEA they were in there! LOL It was really good! I live in a small town and stores did not have spelt flour nor coconut sugar (or anything similar), so I did have to use whole wheat flour instead and I did half regular sugar, half Splenda brown sugar blend. I did double the cake recipe and made it in a bundt pan. Did not double frosting recipe as it was plenty for a bundt. Took 5 – 6 large sweet potatoes for me making this amount. Thanks for the recipe. Maybe next time, I will plan ahead and order the other ingredients online!
Dreena says
Wonderful, Heather! Thanks for adding this note for others (and for me!) 🙂 Cheers!
Donna Bengle says
You cannot even taste the sweet potato in it. My husband is NOT a fan of SP’s and loves this. I also had several omni’s at work try this out and they genuinely loved it. Said they wouldn’t have known it was such a healthy alternative if I hadn’t told them.
Dreena says
thanks for sharing this feedback, Donna, so happy to read that!
Tammy says
You don’t taste sweet potato at all. If you never told anyone they wouldn’t know.
Cindy says
This recipe sounds absolutely divine! Should the cake be removed from the baking pan and then cooled on the cooling rack or cool in the pan?
Dreena says
Thanks Cindy! You cool the cake in the pan, then remove. You can remove when it’s mostly cool. Enjoy!