I joined another baking group call the Cake Slice Bakers. Each month we bake a cake chosen from the book Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman & Peter Wynne.
The cake that was chosen for November is a sweet potato cake made with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, filled with orange cream cheese frosting, and topped with chocolate cream cheese frosting.
I was a little nervous how those three flavors would blend together. I considered only making the cake with chocolate or orange, not both. Alas, my husband and muse, convinced me to give it a try. And of course, he is always right about these things (not everything…) and the cake was very good. The cake itself is moist and the spices aren’t overpowering.
The best part, though, is the cream cheese frosting. I’m surprised there was anything left to put on the cake after all the dipping in the bowl that went on. If anything, I have found my new favorite recipe for cream cheese icing.
Click here for the Cake Slice Baker’s blogroll. I think you’ll see some of your favorite bloggers are also a part of the group.
Sweet Potato Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Orange Filling
Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman & Peter Wynne
Makes one 9″, three layer cake
Cake:
2 medium or 1 large sweet potato (12 ounces)
3 cups of cake flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
5 eggs, separated
2 and 1/4 cups of sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 and 1/4 cups of milk
Makes a 9-inch triple layer cake, serves 16-20 people
1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes in 2-3 places, place on a small baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until the potatoes are very soft. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms and the sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper also.
3. When the sweet potatoes are cool peel off the skin and remove any dark spots. Cut the potatoes into chunks and puree in a food processors. Puree until smooth. Measure out one cup of potato puree and set aside.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of electric mixer add the egg whites and attach whip attachment. Beat on medium speed until egg whites are frothy. raise the speed to high and gradually beat in 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are moderately stiff.
6. In another large bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sweet potato, butter, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after each egg yolk is added. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk in alternately in 2-3 additions. making sure to begin and end with the dry ingredients.
7. With a large spatula, fold in one fourth of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks remain. Making sure to not over mix or this will deflate the batter. Divide the batter among of the three pans.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out the cake layers onto a wire rack and cool completely at least 1 hour.
9. To assemble the cake, place one layer flat side up on to a cake stand. With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip and filled with chocolate cream cheese icing, pipe border around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with the orange cream filling smoothing it to the edge of the border. Place the second layer on top and repeat the process.Place the third layer on top and use all the chocolate cream cheese frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.
Chocolate Cream Frosting:
makes 3 cups
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick of butter at room temperature
16 ounces of powdered sugar; sifted
1 and 1/2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar to cream cheese butter mixture. Making sure to scrape down the sides the sides of the bowl. Then beat until light fluffy 2-3 minutes.
2. Measure out 1 cup of frosting and set aside.
3. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining icing in the bowl and beat until well combined.
Orange Cream Filling:
1 cup of reserved cream cheese icing from above.
2 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 teaspoon of orange extract
1. Stir together all the ingredients until well mixed.
20 Comments
Your cake looks wonderful. I was a little owrried about all the flavours wokring together too but they really do work. Love the pic of all the cut slices of cake.
Cake looks lovely. Lots of orange cream in the middle tomake it extra tasty. Great job.
Mmmm, looks good. So do you think that would count as a vegetable serving?:) Do you use actual sweet potatoes, or yams?
looks great!! i loved the frosting, too! were you kids willing to give this cake a try?
Ohhh that frosting!!! My fingers kept finding their way into the bowl!! You did a great job!!
Corinne–I did use sweet potatoes and YES it does count as a vegetable serving. And so does the chocolate frosting. :)
This looks fabulous. Is the group allowing people to join? I went to the site and I couldn’t figure it out. I already do TWD and think this would be a fun one to do as well. Love your blog!
Wonderful cake! I think this cake was delicious and filled with lots of healthy antioxidants! :)
That cake looks delicious and I LOVE the photos- wow!
Mmm, yours looks fantastic… I love the swirly icing. I’m glad you ended up liking it :)
I love how your cake turned out. And those swirls of frosting, yummy!
Wow-I love the sound of this recipe! What a great combo. Will try this one. thx Beautiful pic of cake! makes my mouth water…
Jenny from KY!
That is one wonderful looking cake Lindsey! Of course everything you make sounds and looks delicious!!!
yours look terrific. I wish i could have done mine better. And i’m glad the flavors worked out for you in the end! looking forward to next month’s selection!
Sometimes I wonder why I make the cake, when it’s really the frosting I want……
Me too, I was worried about how the sweet potato and chocolate would work. I guess we were worried for nothing. You did an amazing job with your cake. The photos are stunning!
i was also a little apprehensive about the flavor combo, but everything came together nicely. sounds like it was a great success in your home…great job!
I hate orange and chocolate together, so I’m thinking I might try folding a little crystallized ginger into the filling and leaving out the orange. What do you think?
Yum, you cake looks terrific! Good job!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~ingrid
Your cake looks lovely!