Oh heyyy there, don’t mind me drooling/crying over this mouthwatering cake situation ? Maybe you’re thinking that I’ve finally lost my marbles because chocolate and sweet potato are two foods that you would never imagine mixing together. But wait! ✋ Let’s stop and think about this for a minute. After making the most delicious confections using beets as my secret ingredient (Fudgy Vegan Beet Cupcakes, Vegan S’mores Fudge Brownies, and Chocolate Chip Chia Beet Scones), I began to wonder what else I could bake using earthy root vegetables, because they make baked goods moist & amazing without tasting like earthy root vegetables.
Around this time I also began binge eating sweet potatoes in many forms, but mostly in the form of these Sweet Potato Fries with Magic Sauce. Let’s just take a minute and give sweet potatoes a shout out ????
What I came up with was a moist chocolate cake with a subtle sweetness, topped off with coconut creme fraiche and fresh mint ? You can thank me later.
Here are the ingredients you will need for this vegan and gluten free cake:
Dry Ingredients
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato, roasted
1 tsp vegan butter, melted (or coconut oil)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup roasted pureed beet
3/4 cup organic sugar, very fine (can pulse in coffee grinder)
1/4 cup cashew milk (or other non dairy milk) – add more if needed, I ended up using 1/2 cup the first time I made it
Poke some holes in your sweet potato using a fork and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the skin once the potato is cool. This recipe also calls for roasted beet. I would say it’s optional, though. To roast the beet, clean it and cut off the stem, then rub a little coconut oil all over and wrap up the entire beet in aluminum foil. Place on a small baking sheet and roast in the oven at 375 degrees for about an hour. When it’s cooled off, place in a blender and puree, adding water if needed. If you don’t use beets in this recipe and the batter feels too dry, just add a little more milk.
Mix your dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine wet ingredients together with a hand blender or regular blender until you have a velvety texture. Pour wet ingredients into dry and gently mix.
Line a small loaf pan (mine was about 8×4 inches) with some vegan butter or oil. Pour batter in and smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 minutes.
Coconut Creme Fraiche
Leave a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight, upside down. Pour out the liquid content (can use for smoothies). Put the solidified coconut milk in a bowl with 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract and 1 tsp of maple syrup. Mix with beaters (or hand blender) until you have a thick, yogurt or sour cream like consistency. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
Slice and plate your cake and add a dollop of creme fraiche when you’re ready to serve it. You can also add a sprig of fresh mint or dust cocoa powder or cinnamon on top. You can definitely bypass all those things and eat this cake just as it is because it doesn’t need all the fancy extras, although coconut creme fraiche can only enhance anything you put it on by a million percent.
If you roast the sweet potato and beet ahead of time, the cake itself is super quick and easy to make. Perfect for a fancy party, or for eating in your jammy jams with tea or coffee ☕️
Jillian ♥
