The Best Sweet Potato Pound Cake

This sweet potato pound cake is a force to be reckoned with, y’all. A cake that’s so tender, warmly spiced, and loaded with flavor. Every single bite is beaming with buttery richness + sweet potato taste. Topped with an insane brown butter glaze!

I saw a meme the other day that had a funny jab about those who are on #teampumpkin and those who are on #teamsweetpotato. Every holiday season the jokes get funnier and funnier lol. Listen, I ain’t gonna lie; I do love myself some pumpkin-flavored goodies but when it comes to which one ranks higher…I’m screwing pumpkin and marrying sweet potato, all day, everyday. Ha!

Yuh, I said it. There is nothing at all like that good ole sweet potato goodness for me. I love it during the holiday season and all year ’round. Sweet potato is such a rich and respected food item within the Black community, too. Every year I make it a point to add new sweet potato-inspired recipes to my portfolio and omgggggg, y’all. This sweet potato pound cake is insane! Let’s dig in!

The Best Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Description

This sweet potato pound cake is a force to be reckoned with, y’all. A cake that’s so tender, warmly spiced, and loaded with flavor. Every single bite is beaming with buttery richness + sweet potato taste. Topped with an insane brown butter glaze!

Ingredients

For the sweet potato pound cake:

• 3 cups all purpose flour, sifted if lumpy
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup sweet potato purée
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup whole buttermilk
• chopped pecans, for garnish- optional
• vanilla ice cream, for serving- optional

For the brown butter glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 3 tablespoons whole milk (or milk of choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the sweet potato pound cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and generously spray a 10-cup bundt pan with baking spray or grease with butter and then set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Whisk the dry ingredients super well to combine and then set the bowl aside.
3. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the sweet potato purée and continue beating to fully combine. Add in the eggs, one by one, beating until just combined after each addition. Then add in the vanilla and almond extract. 
4. Next, add in the flour mixture a little at a time in stages alternating with the buttermilk (ex: a little flour mixture, then a little buttermilk). Begin and end with the flour until all of the flour/buttermilk is combined within the cake batter until just combined- careful not to over mix.
5. Empty the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and use a spoon to evenly smooth the top of the cake batter nicely. 
6. Bake the cake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then carefully invert the cake onto a wire rack to continue cooling. While the cake cools, prepare the glaze.

For the brown butter glaze:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Allow the butter to melt, undisturbed, to brown- the entire process takes about 5-6 minutes. You should hear the butter bubbling as it cooks. Then the butter will turn golden brown and have a nutty aroma with brown bits on the bottom- careful not to walk away as it can go from perfectly browned to burned in seconds! Once achieved, remove the saucepan from heat and set aside to cool down.
2. In a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lightly cooled brown butter together and stir to combine. Pour in the milk along with the vanilla paste/extract and continue mixing until everything is well incorporated. 

For the cake assembly:

1. Place the cake onto a large plate or cake vessel (with enough space/height to hold in the glaze to keep from spilling over) and drizzle the glaze over the pound cake. Let the glaze sit on the cake for a few minutes to set.
2. Garnish the cake with chopped pecans, if desired. Then slice the sweet potato pound cake into wedges and serve warm with ice cream, if you’d like. Enjoy!