Food From101

Spiced Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze

Makes

8–10 servings

Takes

About 1½ hours, plus cooling time
Forget pumpkin—especially when it’s hard to find at the height of PSL season. Sweet potato goes just as well with classic fall spices and a sweet glaze for an easy showstopper.

Ingredients

  1. 3 cups flour
  2. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  3. 1 teaspoon baking soda
  4. 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
  5. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  6. 1½ teaspoons cardamom
  7. ¼ teaspoon allspice
  8. ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  9. 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
  10. ½ cup unsalted butter, soft (but still cool)
  11. ½ cup olive oil
  12. 2 large eggs, at room temp
  13. 1 (15 oz.) can sweet potato purée
  14. ½ cup sour cream, or full-fat plain yogurt
  15. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  16. 1 cup powdered sugar
  17. ½ cup milk
  18. 2 – 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, ideally golden or light in color
  19. 1 – 2 tablespoons pepitas
  20. 6 – 7 sprigs fresh roasemary

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350º F, then prepare your bundt pan with spray or flour, dusting off any excess. (Any 12-cup pan will do.)
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl, and set aside.
  3. In a stand mixer, mix brown sugar, butter, and olive oil—beat vigorously for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Then, add eggs one at a time and mix. Add in sweet potato and sour cream and combine, then fold in dry ingredients. Mix evenly, scraping down the sides until batter is uniform.
  4. Fill the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula. Then, bang it on a sturdy surface to avoid large air pockets and fill in any details of the pan. Bake about 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean.
  5. Let cake cool on a wire rack. After 20 minutes or so, slide a knife along edges and flip to release, then let come to room temperature. Meanwhile, toast pepitas in a small sautée pan for 4–5 minutes and set aside.
  6. For the glaze: melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium in a small saucepan. Cook butter until nicely browned and fragrant, taking care to stir and not let it burn.
  7. Transfer browned butter to a small bowl. Sift in powdered sugar and whisk together with maple syrup plus a pinch of salt. Alternate adding milk and more sugar, about 1–2 tablespoons at a time, until glaze is a pearly white and thin enough to just drip off your whisk.
  8. Wait for the cake to completely cool, then pipe glaze out of a plastic ziplock bag (or a decorating bag if you have one). Artfully arrange toasted pepitas and rosemary, and put it all onto a beautiful cake stand to showcase your fall masterpiece.