Individual sized mini sweet potato cakes served with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle of sticky caramel sauce are a perfect fall dessert. They are cozy, flavorful and sure to become a favorite treat.
These cute mini sweet potato cakes are filled with the flavors of fall. They are good on their own, but a drizzle of sticky caramel sauce takes them to the next level.
They would be a perfect way to end an autumn dinner party or would be right at home on your Thanksgiving menu. It’s kind of like a cupcake, but served as a mini cake with a tasty sauce for a perfect dessert.
Sweet potatoes are not just for casseroles and pies. They also make delicious little tender cakes!
This recipe is originally from the Southern Living Cake Book. I couldn’t help myself when I saw these scrumptious sweet potato baby cakes.
This time of year our focus always turns to apples and pumpkin. I feel like sweet potatoes should get some of that same love during autumn as well.
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I love them roasted, mashed, baked, and souffleed. I have recipes for duchess sweet potatoes, candied sweet potatoes with marshmallows and sweet potato casseroles too.
Can I use fresh sweet potatoes instead of canned?
Yes, a 16 oz can yields about 1 3/4 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. You can boil or bake 1-2 sweet potatoes and mash them to get that amount.
I have never had a sweet potato cake though. I knew I would love it.
Luckily we had a nice cool weekend last weekend. Perfect for baking with sweet potato, ginger, cinnamon and caramel!
I was surprised to see the instant coffee in the caramel recipe. It really did add a nice depth of flavor without really tasting like coffee.
It also deepened the color a bit, which was nice. It was a very tasty treat to be sure! There wasn’t a crumb left on a single plate.
A scoop of ice cream is perfect with these little sweet potato cakes. Vanilla ice cream is great, but a scoop of honey cinnamon crunch ice cream would knock them out of the park!
Baby Sweet Potato Cakes with Sticky Caramel Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Cakes
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 16 oz. can sweet potatoes drained and mashed
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Caramel Sauce
- ½ cup butter
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon instant coffee granules
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time until completely incorporated.½ cup butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs
- Add vanilla, salt, ginger, cinnamon and sweet potatoes. Beat until smooth.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 16 oz. can sweet potatoes
- Stir in buttermilk.⅓ cup buttermilk
- Mix flour and baking soda together. Stir into wet mixture until just combined.1¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Spoon into prepared muffin tin, filling each well ⅔ full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from pan.
- To make the sauce, place butter and sugar in a saucepan and warm over medium heat until completely melted and sugar dissolves. Whisk in cream and instant coffee. Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool some before serving.½ cup butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar, 1 cup heavy cream, ½ teaspoon instant coffee granules
- Serve each cake with a couple of tablespoons of sauce. Best served warm with some vanilla ice cream.
Notes
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My taste buds are excited about the sweet potato cakes! The sticky sauce must make them so delightful! This is the cutest little dessert!
They are super yummy, thank you!
These look soo good. I must admit I was thinking this would be a recipe like potato pancakes only made with sweet potatoes. I think that would be fun too. A savory sweet potato pancake.
Oooh, that would be good too!
Hi Carlee! I'm so sorry that I didn't see this post sooner. I created this recipe for Southern Living's Cook-Off in 2005 and won the Southern Desserts category with this it. I love reading what people think about my creations and check out their comments every now and then. So glad you liked this recipe. Great cooks like you and your readers enjoying my recipes is what it is all about!
That is awesome that you created this recipe. We really enjoyed eating them, that is for sure! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Wow! These look wonderful. We love sweet potatoes, and we love cake! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Funtastic Friday. Please join us again this week.
Me too!
Hi Carlee! What a fun group to join! Wow, sweet potato in a cake, who would have thought? I'm surprised there aren't any marshmallows in it since that is the only way my family uses them. 🙂 You are always cooking up something awesome and delicious!
Cheers,
Aspen
I really enjoyed my first month in the group. I just ordered the cookbook they are doing next and it looks like it is really going to have me trying some new things. I can't wait! I would have assumed marshmallows too when I saw sweet potatoes. That is always a favorite way to have them!
What a great recipe! I've never thought of using sweet potato but I suppose it is just like pumpkin. Thanks Carlee for sharing with us at #WednesdaysWisdom
It is very similar, but I had never thought of it either! I think I am going to really enjoy having these baking assignments each month!
Hi Carlee,
I love this this cake recipe and it's perfect for any fall gathering.
Julie
Thank you so much!! That is an exciting way to start the week!
I love Southern Living recipes, these little sweet potato cakes sound wonderful, perfect for fall! Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend?!
I do too, it is hard to go wrong with them. This one was really fun to try.
I need to make this asap!
it was a lot of fun to make these. I can't wait to see what is in the new book!
Your recipe for Baby Sweet Potato Cake with Sticky Carmel Sauce looks and sounds amazing. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!
Cheers,
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com
Thank you so much! It was so much fun to do something a little different than normal. Plus the new group gives me an excuse to bake more cakes!!