Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake & Frosting

by Dr Julie (PhD)

DF/V

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Makes: 1 large cake

I had really hoped, as a mum, that I’d have endless hours to spend in the kitchen creating extravagant cakes for my boys’ birthdays. But with three beautiful boys and a business to run, time has always been an elusive concept. This cake was born out of that reality — simple, wholesome, and still full of love.

My inspiration came from one of the greats, Annabel Langbein, and her famous one-bowl chocolate cake. I wanted to create something similar in spirit — a cake that had my usual twists (low sugar, a hidden vegetable, and a whole lot of heart) — but was easy enough to whip up at 11pm the night before a birthday party.

This recipe first featured in my cookbook Feed the Tribe, and it’s been baked countless times in our home ever since. Now, four years on, it feels like the right time to share it freely with everyone — because it’s too good (and too useful!) to keep tucked away.

The frosting also pairs beautifully with my new dairy-free and gluten-free Reindeer Mix launching next week — a little festive magic to make healthy baking even easier.

I really hope this becomes a tried and true recipe for your tribe, just as it has for ours.

Ingredients:

Cake

5 eggs

1 cup of orange kumara puree, made with skin on

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup purple kumara puree, made peeled

1/2 cup almond butter, smooth

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a 22cm spring form cake tin (ideally with a removeable base).

In a large bowl or cake mixer add in all the wet cake ingredients (eggs, orange kumara puree, almond milk, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and vanilla essence). Mix well to combine.

Add in the dry ingredients (spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda and coco) and mix again well to combine and make sure there are no lumps. Pour cake mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Allow to cool before removing from the base and ensure it is completely cool before frosting it. To make the frosting place all frosting ingredients into a large bowl or the cake mixer. Beat well to combine and then lather on top of the cake. It is thick enough that you can do this in a rustic way with a cake spatula.

Notes/Substitutions

*The type of kumara in each does make a difference so do use both cake and frosting does make a difference, as does the skin on/off.

*If possible use a dark/Dutch cocoa to make it a rich colour

* Milk can be substituted for any milk of choice

*Flour can be substituted for gluten-free flour just use a binder like xanthan gum. This also work fine with standard flour as spelt flour contains gluten.

As mentioned at the start of this blog the sweet potato frosting in this recipe works a treat in our DJK dairy and gluten-free reindeer mix (limited edition for Xmas). You can grab this mix here during the festive season!

Here is to simple happy baking for your tribe for many years to come!

xx Dr Julie

Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake & Frosting

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