Spiced Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
About 1½ hours, plus cooling timeForget 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
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup unsalted butter, soft (but still cool)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temp
- 1 (15 oz.) can sweet potato purée
- ½ cup sour cream, or full-fat plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 2 – 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, ideally golden or light in color
- 1 – 2 tablespoons pepitas
- 6 – 7 sprigs fresh roasemary
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350º F, then prepare your bundt pan with spray or flour, dusting off any excess. (Any 12-cup pan will do.)
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl, and set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.