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Sweet Potato and Chocolate Loaf Cake

© 2024 Wicked Foods Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Super light and gently spiced sweet potato cake, enrobed in smooth, silky chocolate ganache.

  • Author: Wicked
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 2.5 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours and 45 minutes
  • Yield: 22x12cm loaf cake 1x

Ingredients

Scale

 

For the Cake

  • 1 tbsp vegan butter (for greasing)
  • 450g whole sweet potatoes (around 2x medium size)
  • 330g plain white flour
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 50ml water (room temperature)
  • 50ml soy milk (room temperature)
  • 250g vegetable oil
  • 220g caster sugar
  • 100g golden syrup
  • Zest of one orange (finely grated)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp psyllium husk powder

 

For the Chocolate ganache

  • 400 g coconut milk (canned, full-fat)
  • 25 g icing sugar
  • 400 g dark chocolate (make sure it’s vegan and over 65% cacao)

Instructions

 

To Make the Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 200c (fan). Wrap the sweet potatoes in tin foil and place on a baking tray before placing in the oven to roast for 1 hour. Remove form the oven, unwrap and leave to cool for 20 minutes. 
  2. Slice the sweet potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh. Transfer to a medium bowl and mash until very smooth. Weigh out 250g of the mashed sweet potato and keep the rest in a sealed container in the fridge for another recipe.
  3. Reduce the oven temperature to 160c (fan) then grease and line a 22×12 cm loaf tin with the vegan butter and baking parchment. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sea salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground cinnamon and ground ginger. Set aside. 
  5. In the cup of a high-speed blender, place the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth then whisk into the sweet potato mash until smooth. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined and then transfer to the lined loaf tin. 
  6. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove form the oven and test with a skewer – it should come out clean. Leave to cool on a cooling rack until cool enough to handle then remove from the tin and leave to cool completely. 
    1. Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan and add the icing sugar. Place over a low heat. Heat the coconut milk until it’s just about to boil (you should see small bubbles appearing at the side of the pan) but do not allow it to boil fully. Stir the coconut milk with a spatula as it heats.
    2. Once hot, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Cover with a lid and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
    3. Once 15 minutes is up, remove the lid and whisk well until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place the cooled cake on a wire cooling rack sat over a medium bowl. 
    4. Once the ganache has cooled and thickened slightly but is still glossy and pourable, pour it all over the cake, catching any excess in the bowl below. The ganache should cover and coat the cake, but if you miss a bit, use the excess ganache in the bowl below to repeat the process. 
    5. Cover the cake and place in the fridge to chill until the ganache is set, then slice and serve.

 

To Make the Chocolate Ganache

  1. Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan and add the icing sugar. Place over a low heat. Heat the coconut milk until it’s just about to boil (you should see small bubbles appearing at the side of the pan) but do not allow it to boil fully. Stir the coconut milk with a spatula as it heats.
  2. Once hot, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Cover with a lid and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
  3. Once 15 minutes is up, remove the lid and whisk well until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place the cooled cake on a wire cooling rack sat over a medium bowl. 
  4. Once the ganache has cooled and thickened slightly but is still glossy and pourable, pour it all over the cake, catching any excess in the bowl below. The ganache should cover and coat the cake, but if you miss a bit, use the excess ganache in the bowl below to repeat the process. 
  5. Cover the cake and place in the fridge to chill until the ganache is set, then slice and serve.

 

Notes

The key to the perfect sweet potato cake is to slow roast your sweet potatoes! Some recipes call for them to be boiled until soft, but I find that introduces too much water. Roasted sweet potato is caramelised and so much more flavoursome!

Next we’re going to combine our dry ingredients with the wet and the mashed sweet potato. Don’t overmix the batter or you’ll get a tough cake. Just fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.

Bake in a lined loaf tin until golden on top and nicely risen. The top will be craggy and caramelised but don’t worry – the inside will be beautifully moist thanks to the sweet potato.

Finally we’re going to drizzle the entire loaf cake with chocolate ganache and allow it to set. It’s now ready to slice and serve!

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