Sweet Potato Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Crumb Topping
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Sweet Potato in a Cake?
Yep! Don’t knock it until you try it. People have put weirder things in cake. Like mayonnaise. Or tomato soup.
This makes super moist cake with a soft crumb. The brown sugar crumb topping is delightfully crunchy and adds a bit of sweetness because the cake itself is not very sweet.
It’s also SUPER EASY to make. It takes a little bit of time to roast the sweet potato but after that the whole recipe is super quick and easy. You can roast the sweet potato a day or two in advance and just keep it in the fridge to have it ready for when you want to make the cake.
Why is there no coffee in this coffee cake?
Fun fact: Coffee cake doesn’t have coffee in it! It’s called coffee cake because it’s meant to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee. I only found this out a couple years ago and I was SHOCKED.
So, whip up this cake and then make yourself a hot cup of coffee to go with it!
What ingredients do I need?
Here’s your grocery list:
-Salted Butter
-Sweet Potatoes
-Canola Oil (or another neutral flavoured light oil)
-Sugar
-Brown Sugar (I like dark brown sugar)
-Eggs
-All Purpose Flour
-Baking Powder
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Sea Salt
You will also need a kitchen scale or measuring cups & spoons (but I highly recommend the scale!) , a few bowls, a spatula, a whisk, and an 9 x 13 baking pan. A food processor would come in handy for the crumb topping but it’s optional!
Here’s how to make it:
You can find the full recipe below but I’ll go over the steps in a little extra detail here.
First, roast your sweet potatoes!
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Weigh your sweet potatoes to find out how many you need to roast. They’ll lose some weight in the oven so roast an extra one in case!
Wash your sweet potatoes, then stab each one a few times with a fork. Rub each one with a little bit of canola oil or other neutral flavoured oil then put in the oven and cook until you can pierce each one very easily with a fork.
Let the sweet potatoes cool completely, then pull off their skins.
Next, gather all of your tools & ingredients, and lightly grease your 9 x 13 pan with butter, then dust it with flour. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Next, make the crumb topping:
Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl then either keep it in the bowl or dump it into your food processor. Cut up your chilled butter into small cubes and add it to the bowl or food processor.
If you are using a food processor: pulse the mixture until it starts to form crumbs. It shouldn’t be sticky, but it also shouldn’t be sandy. The ingredients should start to clump together. If it’s not clumping, your butter may be a little too cold. You can wait about 15 minutes for it to warm up and try pulsing again.
If you are making the crumb in a bowl: Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it starts to form crumbs. You can also use your fingers and rub the butter cubes into the flour mixture until crumbs start to form.
Set aside the crumb topping.
Next, make your cake batter:
Whisk together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
In another slightly bigger bowl, mash your sweet potato, then add canola oil, melted salted butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla and whisk until fully combined.
Dump your flour mixture into your wet ingredients and mix gently with a spatula until the batter is smooth. You may need to mix a bit vigorously to get rid of all the lumps but make sure you don’t overmix. Mix only until your batter is smooth.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over top.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool completely on a wire rack then cut into squares or slices or whatever shape your heart desires.
Store this cake in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this cake in an airtight container for several months. Bring it up to room temperature before eating for best flavour and texture.
Here's the recipe!
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Crumb Topping
Ingredients
- 195g (1 1/2 cups) All Purpose Flour
- 1 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 335g (approximately 1 cup plus 2 TBSP) Roasted Sweet Potatoes (instructions below)
- 3 Eggs
- 225g (1 cup plus 2 TBSP) Granulated Sugar
- 245g (1 1/4 cups) Brown Sugar
- 90g (1/3 cup) Canola Oil (Or other neutral flavoured oil)
- 95g (1/2 cup) Salted Butter, Melted
- 5g (1 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 145g (1 cup) All Purpose Flour
- 325g (1 1/2 cups) Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 TBSP Ground Cinnamon
- 145g (1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP) Salted Butter, chilled
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F
- Weigh your sweet potatoes to see how many you need. They will lose a bit of weight in the oven so roast an extra one if you need to just in case.
- Wash your sweet potatoes and poke each with a fork several times.
- Rub each sweet potato with a small amount of oil and place on a baking tray.
- Cook about 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of the sweet potato. Poke with a fork to test for doneness. The sweet potatoes should be very soft.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely. Once cool, you can peel off the skins and then your sweet potatoes are ready to use in the recipe.
- Food Processor method:
- Whisk together flour, sugar, and cinnamon and dump into a food processor.
- Cut your butter up into small cubes and add to food processor.
- Pulse mixture until crumbs form and and you can't see any chunks of butter. Set aside.
- Bowl method:
- Whisk together flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- Cut up your butter into small cubes and add to flour mixture.
- Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour or use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until crumbs form and you can't see any chunks of butter. Set aside.
- Grease your 9 x 13 pan with butter then dust it with flour. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Whisk together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
- In a bigger bowl, mash your sweet potato then add canola oil, melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and whisk until fully combined.
- Dump your flour mixture into your wet ingerdients and mix gently with a spatula until the batter is smooth.
- Pour batter into your pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Sprinkle your crumb topping evenly over your cake and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice into squares and enjoy with a cup of coffee!
Notes
All of my recipes are in weights (unless the unit is too small to accurately measure with a scale) because it is more accurate to bake using weights. I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale! If you don't have one, I have also included volume measurements.
