If I say fall desserts, and I bet you go straight to pumpkin. Well I am right there with you most of the time, but not this time. This time I am all about this homemade sweet potato bundt cake with toffee glaze. A cake so simple and delicious, and so full of warm spices and everything we all love about fall flavors and desserts. You won't even miss the pumpkin.
When it comes to fall desserts - especially homemade pies - there tend to be two camps people fall in...the pumpkin pie or the sweet potato pie.They taste similar because they are both made with similar warm spices. I am not gonna lie, while I don't make sweet potato pie myself very much, give me a homemade one baked by someone who does make them a lot and has a great recipe and I am picking that any day. I am in the sweet potato camp for sure.
Pumpkin spice...I get it. In fact we all get it because it is pretty much thrown in our face all the time starting September 1, from the pies, to the mousse to the famous lattes. And it is great, don't get me wrong, it is just not the only thing.
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Can you bake desserts with sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes aren't just great mashed as a side dish, baked into a casserole or used as a filling in ravioli or gnocchi. They are fantastic in cakes, pies and tarts. SInce the taste is similar to pumpkin, they are great subs for one another in all sorts of things.
Additionally, they are easy to boil and puree or roast to concentrate their sugars and puree. The latter is my preferred method, but do whichever works for you.
Have leftover sweet potatoes? Making this sweet potato bundt cake with toffee glaze is a great way to use them up in something homemade, different and delicious.
Are sweet potatoes the same as yams?
The yams that we use in the U.S. are a type of sweet potato (most often I find garnet yams). I use these when I can find them because they are a touch sweeter and a roast up a bit softer.
Sweet potatoes are a bit starchier than a U.S. yam too, which makes them ideal for cooking because they don't get as soft. For this sweet potato bundt cake use either one. They are almost always interchangeable.
Ingredients for the cake
Like most of my cakes this sweet potato bundt cake is an oil-based cake and made with typical cake ingredients and a few warm spices that are perfect for fall.
- Sugar
- Oil
- Eggs
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Warm spices - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice
- 2 cups of sweet potato puree. Made by either roasting and mashing or peeling, boiling and mashing.
About the toffee glaze
This homemade toffee glaze is damn good that it gets it's own whole section, though it probably needs no explanation as I am sure you're already certain you want to make this. If you are wondering if it is just like every other toffee glaze you've ever seen, it is not. It is made with buttermilk which makes it even more awesome. Using buttermilk adds a tangy element to a glaze that is often sickeningly sweet.
And it couldn't be easier to make. It requires only a few ingredients...
- Sugar
- Butter
- Corn syrup
- Baking soda
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Buttermilk
My suggestion to you is make a double batch and pour it on everything - ice cream, other cakes, pies, sweet breads, puddings. Or, just drink it, it really could be a dessert all on it's own. Which I may or may not have done on occasion.
How do you keep the cake from sticking to the bundt pan?
This is an excellent question and a super subjective one. I can tell you I have screwed this up plenty in the past. For me baking spray works the absolute best. NOTE – this is NOT the same as cooking spray. Baking spray is oil mixed with some flour. When I have this on hand and use it for any baking, I have never ever had a cake stick – bundt pan or any pan.
When I don’t have baking spray (which would be the time I made the cake in the photos), I use cooking spray and it works like a charm.
If you don’t believe me or are unsure, and want to read up on what method you think will be best for you check this article out.
Tips for success
- Use a larger bundt pan for this sweet potato bundt cake recipe. I used my larger 10-12 cup bundt pan and it still rose over the top. Don't have the large bundt pan? Just use what you have, and only fill it about ⅔ of the way. Take your leftover cake batter and make cupcakes out of it.
- Use real sweet potatoes, not canned ones. They are watery and just not good.
- Don't substitute butter for the oil. The texture won't be the same, oil.
- Don't skimp on the toffee glaze. It is too amazing not to drench your cake in it.
Top tip
Make sure to let the cake cool in the pan for five minutes before turning it out, but not any longer than that. Leave it in there to cool too long and it will stick and never come out!
Equipment
- bundt pan
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 2 cups sweet potato mashed or put through a food mill; this will be about four good-sized sweet potatoes
For the toffee glaze
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 2 tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the sweet potato bundt cake
- eat the oven to 350 and grease a 10-inch bundt pan really good - you don't want it to get stuck in there. In a bowl of a stand mixer beat the sugar and oil until well combined. Add the eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and all the spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, ALTERNATING with the mashed sweet potatoes, mixing on low speed after each addition until each is well incorporated. Spread the batter into the greased bundt pan and bake for about an hour. When you remove from the oven, cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. and then cool completely.
For the toffee glaze
- To make the glaze, combine everything but the vanilla bean paste in a pretty big saucepan. The baking soda in this will cause an unbelievable amount of foaming for most of the time this cooks, so make sure to use a bigger pot than you think is necessary. Trust me, use something LARGE - I had to make a second time bc the first time if bubbled up so bad it took out the flame on my stove top...and the second attempt I still had to transfer it three times to a larger pot to avoid bubbling over. Bring it to a boil and continue cooking for about 15-20 minutes on low heat and stir every now and then. The only thing about this sauce is that you can't walk away from it because of the bubbling (which is a pain but the sauce is so good it will be worth it). When it starts to bubble too much to the top, simply pull of the heat for a moment until it calms down a bit and then return it to the heat. After about 15 minutes the foam will subside and you will see a stunningly beautiful amber color to the sauce and it will smell like toffee. Cook for maybe a few more minutes, stirring, until the amber color really deepens and then pull off the heat and add the vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract. Cool it to room temperature before pouring on the cake.
- Drizzle the top of the cake and serve additional along side for slices.
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