This Sweet Potato Coffee Cake is tender and scrumptious, with a healthy serving of nutrients. The cream cheese icing adds an extra layer to make this the perfect cake for any weekend breakfast or brunch potluck!
By Amy Dong
So what’s one to do when it’s a green smoothie type of month but what you really crave is cake for breakfast? 
My personal answer is to eat that piece of morning cake and share the rest. Doesn’t hurt to add a bit of healthy into said cake, either.
So when I started having daydreams about this decadent Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake last week, I decided to go with it. This time, with a nutritious punch.
Whole grains were added. And in went the sweet potatoes. [A whopping 2 cups full of sweet potatoes.]
I baked up too many versions of this cake. I tried really hard to make this entirely whole wheat, used honey in place of sugar, and replaced butter with trendy oils…they were all good, but not great. So here we are. Indulgent with a kick of healthy.
Sometimes ya just gotta have the real deal. Like, that’s the glorious butter and brown sugar topping ?…not claiming this to be diet food by any means. You technically can skip the brown sugar topping, but it’s what makes the cake. The yum factor would be missing if it weren’t clothed with that melty topping. I’m thinking the sweet potatoes make up for it.
This Sweet Potato Coffee Cake is tender and delicious all on its own, and you don’t need to frost it, but we all know about needs vs. wants.
We settled on our usual cream cheese frosting, which makes this breakfast cake simply irresistible. Plus, it looks way prettier and cakes can be vain.
Here’s to cake for breakfast.
Share as you will. Enjoy :)
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Indulgent Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
- Yield: 15 -20 pieces 1x
Description
This Sweet Potato Coffee Cake is tender and scrumptious, with a healthy serving of nutrients. The cream cheese icing adds an extra layer to make this the perfect cake for any weekend breakfast or brunch potluck!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 2 cups peeled (cooked, and mashed sweet potatoes)
- 1.5 cups whole milk
- 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 TB pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup salted butter (melted)
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup salted butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
- 1 TB all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 4 oz regular cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 TB salted butter (melted)
- Up to 2 TB milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position. Grease a 13×9 baking pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk to combine well. In a separate bowl, whisk the sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter to fully combine. Use a rubber spatula to fold the flour mixture with sweet potato mixture gently; don’t over mix. Level the batter into the greased baking pan.
- To make the Topping: In a bowl, mix toether all topping ingredients until incorporated. Drop evenly on top of the cake batter, in small clumps. Bake cake about 35 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few tender crumbs attached (be sure to check the cake portion, not the portions with melted butter, to get correct testing results.) Remove cake and let cool slightly while you make the frosting.
- To make Frosting: In a small bowl, mix together all frosting ingredients until it reaches a thick drizzle consistency. Glaze the warm cake. Cake is best served warm.
Notes
I like to roast my sweet potatoes ahead of time, even the day before, so it’s ready to go. Wrap potatoes in foil, bake at 400F for 1-1.5 hours or until tender. Let cool, peel, and mash.
This cake is best served warm. You can make it ahead of time and rewarm it before serving. Either drizzle with frosting just before serving or frost ahead of time and just be sure you don’t overheat when re-warming the cake.
The buttery topping may seem liquidy on top of the cake when it’s done baking; it will settle deliciously into the cake as it cools.
- Category: Dessert
