This is a follow-up to my last post about the homegrown, organic vegetables of Persimmon Hill Farm. I took my own advice and purchased some of their "fresh out of the ground" sweet potatoes. My original intention was to make a sweet potato pie. But I got carried away and decided to combine my three favorite desserts into one.I found these organic sweet potatoes to have a sweeter than usual taste, and not stringy, allowing the use of all of the potato. Baking, instead of boiling, brought out even more of the sweetness. Also, they were more tender, thereby requiring less baking time. Based on this experience, I believe I just became a regular customer!
Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups sweet potatoes, baked, peeled & pureed
1 cup butter, unsalted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla paste, or extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt, fine grind
2 teaspoons cardamom
⅓ cup buttermilk
1-½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Glaze:
⅓ cup butter, unsalted
¾ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste, or vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon
½ cup white chocolate, melted
½ cup pecans, chopped & toasted
Preparation:
Cake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake sweet potatoes until soft - approximately 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size. When done, puree in food processor or mash by hand.
Spray a 12 cup bundt pan or angel food cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Cream butter with sugars and beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla paste and sweet potatoes and blend well. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spice. Stir into the batter, alternating with the buttermilk, until blended. Fold in chopped pecans and spoon the batter into the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Carefully move the cake from the pan to the rack and let cool completely.
Glaze:
Heat the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and let cook, bubbling gently, about 5 - 8 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the stove and briskly stir in confectioner's sugar. Stir in the vanilla and bourbon. Drizzle over cake, then sprinkle with pecans. Let cool 30 - 60 minutes and then last, drizzle on the white chocolate