Southern Living Sweet Potato Pound Cake is a simple recipe. It’s the perfect fall cake with a delicious blend of sweet potatoes, coconut, nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg. A must bake this autumn.
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THE BEST SWEET POTATO COCONUT CAKE
I really wanted to bake another fallish cake from this classic 1971 Southern Living Cakes cookbook. This sweet potato pound cake caught my eye, but I didn’t like the fact it had coconut in it.
Coconut can be so polarizing. It’s like a hot political topic. You’re either pro coconut or anti coconut.
I decided to go pro coconut and make it and I’m sure glad I did. It turned out amazing.
Because the recipe calls for only 1/2 cup of coconut, it doesn’t stand out and blends in so well with the nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg.
The blend of sweet potatoes, nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg really give it a delicious fall flavor that is only enhanced by the coconut.
Don’t be afraid to go pro coconut with this recipe. It is a must bake for the fall.
SWEET POTATO POUND CAKE RECIPE SOUTHERN LIVING
- Butter – For best results use real butter at room temperature.
- Sugar – brown sugar or white sugar or a combination.
- Mashed cooked or baked sweet potatoes. – I baked mine in the Crock Pot. See below
- Eggs – room temperature
- All Purpose Flour
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Vanilla
- Walnuts or Pecans – I recommend toasting the nuts. This gives the nuts and cake more flavor. See below for how to toast nuts.
- Flaked Coconut
Tools Used In Easy Sweet Potato Cake Recipe
- Cake Cooling Rack – Perfect for cooling your pound or bundt cakes or any round cake.
- Solid Sturdy Spatula – For stirring and scrapping thick pound cake batter.
- Bundt Pan Cleaning Tool – A must have for someone who uses bundts. Gets into those pesky, hard to clean crevices.
PANS FOR THIS SWEET POTATO POUND CAKE
- Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Anniversary Bundt Pan – The beautiful classic bundt pan. This Nordic pan is non stick, plus it’s a heavy weight aluminum bundt that cooks evening and nicely.
- Nordic Ware Angel Food/Tube Pan – Natural aluminum pan that’s bakes evenly and cleans up easily.
- Nordic Ware Loaf Pan – Durable natural aluminum pan that distributes heat evenly and clean up is a breeze.
HOW TO MAKE SWEET POTATO POUND CAKE
- Cream butter and sugar and add mashed sweet potatoes.
- Add eggs, dry ingredients and vanilla.
- Stir in nuts and coconut.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 15 minutes.
This cake is a beautiful cake when baked in a bundt pan. It would look even more elegant presented on a lovely cake stand. I know this is how I like to show off and present cakes I’ve baked in a bundt pan.
SLOW COOKER MASHED SWEET POTATOES
If you’re not in a rush, this is so easy. There’s no checking the oven and pok’n the potatoes every 5 minutes. So what if you leave these in the Crockpot 10 extra minutes.
- Use 3 large sweet potatoes or 4 or 5 medium sweet potatoes.
- Wash sweet potatoes well.
- Using a knife or fork, poke holes in sweet potatoes all over.
- Wrap each sweet potato individually in foil.
- Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
HOW TO TOAST NUTS FOR BAKING
Toasting the nuts exponentially brings out the flavor of the nuts. It draws the natural oils to the surface, which enhances the rich flavor of the nuts.
Here are three methods to toast your nuts, which I found in this post on toasting nuts from The Spruce Eats.
- The Skillet Method
- In a skillet cook over medium heat in a even layer.
- Shake the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon.
- Consistently turn the nuts until they are brown and fragrant.
- Move them to a plate to cool as soon as they are browned and done.
- The Oven Method
- Preheat oven to 350 and place nuts in a single layer on rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, periodically stirring and turning.
- When done move nuts to a plate.
- The Microwave Method
- Put one cup of nuts on a plate.
- Microwave 3 to 4 minutes, uncovered.
- They will not be browned, but should have the nutty smell and taste.
How To Add Nuts To Cake Batter
How many of us have made a cake with nuts and all the nuts sunk to the bottom? The cake is still good, but it’s just not a sexy look and it would be better if the nuts were dispersed evenly.
Here’s how to prevent that:
- Place the nuts in a zippered bag or sealed container with one to two tablespoons of flour.
- Shake the bag or container so the flour lightly covers the nuts.
- Fold the nuts in last, just before you put the cake in the oven.
This works in any type of cake. The flour helps suspend the nuts in the batter while it bakes.
HOW TO FREEZE POUND CAKE
It tastes just as delicious, if not more so, after serving time in the freezer.
To freeze the cake or a portion of the cake:
- Cool the cake completely
- Wrap the cake 2 or 3 times in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil.
- Put in large freezer storage bag.
To freeze in slices:
- You can wrap your slices individually in plastic wrap and aluminum foil or only aluminum foil. Then place them in a freezer storage bag or container.
- You can also slice the cake and put slices of parchment paper between the slices. Then wrap the sliced cake just like wrapping the whole cake or portion of the cake above.
More Fall Themed Cakes:
- Southern Living Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Cold Oven Brown Sugar Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe
- Spiced Pumpkin Cake
- Vintage Spice Cake
- Southern Living Spice Cake With Mashed Potatoes
- Bourbon Pecan Pound Cake
Southern Living Sweet Potato Pound Cake
Equipment
- Medium to Large Bundt or Tube Pan
- Long Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter Use real butter at room temperature for the best results.
- 2 cups Sugar Use brown or white or a combination of both.
- 2½ cups Mashed cooked sweet potatoes
- 4 Eggs For best results use room temperature eggs.
- 3 cups All purpose flour
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Cinnamon You can use more. I used 1½ tsp.
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ½ cup Nuts Using toasted nuts provides added flavor. Instructions on toasting nuts are above and below, in the notes.
- ½ cup Flaked coconut
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar well. It should not be gritty.
- Add mashed sweet potatoes and beat until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Combine flour, baking powder and soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon and stir in creamed mixture.
- Add vanilla and mix well.
- Stir in nuts and coconut.
- Spoon mixture into a greased bundt or tube pan.
- Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Cool for 15 minutes.
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Best regards,
Dinesen Hessellund