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Vegan Sweet Potato Cake
Prep 10 minutes
Cooking 30 minutes
Total 40 minutes
Makes 1 cake

Equipment

  • 1 20x20cm/8" square tin or a loaf tin

Ingredients
 

Dry Ingredients

  • 200g / 1 ½ cups plain/all-purpose flour see notes for my gluten-free blend
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp clove or allspice
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp flax seed meal for flax eggs
  • 250g / 1 cup sweet potato mash about 1 medium sweet potato
  • 60ml / ¼ cup vegetable oil olive, canola, sunflower
  • 60ml / ¼ cup plant milk
  • 60ml / ¼ cup maple syrup or more plant milk, see notes
  • 100g / ½ cup coconut sugar or sugar of choice

For the Icing

  • 125g / ½ cup dairy-free yoghurt I used coconut yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp nut butter I used cashew butter
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1-2 tbsp coconut flour optional

Instructions
 

For the Cake

  • Preheat oven to 170°C/350°F. Grease the square tin (or loaf tin), or line with baking paper, if you prefer. I just grease the tin and the cake comes out easily.
  • Make flax egg: Mix ground flax seeds with 4 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for a few minutes until it’s thickened.
  • Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Then add all the wet ingredients (including flax eggs). Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined.
  • Pour into the prepared square tin and bake for 25-30 minutes (45-50 minutes in a loaf tin). The cake is baked when the top springs back when touched, or the toothpick comes out clean. Let the sweet potato cake cool down completely before icing/frosting.

For the Icing

  • Mix all ingredients for the icing in a bowl. Add coconut flour, if needed, to thicken and absorb moisture. Or leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Spread over the sweet potato cake and sprinkle with walnuts or pecans and cinnamon, if you like.

Notes

  • Gluten-free: For the gluten-free version, I used oat flour, sorghum, buckwheat flour and tapioca (40-50g/⅓ cup each, plus 2 tbsp of buckwheat). Depending on which flours you use, you might need to add a bit more, if the dough appears too runny.
  • Maple Syrup: Substitute maple syrup with more milk, for less sweet, or add ¼ cup/50g more sugar if you'd like to omit maple syrup.
  • Icing: You don’t necessarily need to ice the cake—it tastes yummy on its own, too.
  • Storage: Keep this vegan sweet potato cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.