Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake is made from one thin batter and magically creates a 3 layer dessert. The magic happens in the oven! Make it with purple sweet potatoes or ube powder (purple yams)-or even regular ol' orange sweet potatoes. This stunning, yet easy dessert will be a show stopper at your Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!
No food coloring here! Just fresh purple sweet potatoes from California. Purple sweet potatoes are in season fall through early spring.
What are purple sweet potatoes?
Purple sweet potatoes are grown near San Fransisco, CA. Stokes purple sweet potatoes got their name from the county in North Carolina where they were originally grown. They are in season late fall through the winter. Read more about them here at Frieda's specialty produce.
Where can I buy purple sweet potatoes?
September is peak season for them and I spotted them at Publix!
If you prefer a darker, more intense purple, the recipe for Purple Velvet Magic Cake in my cookbook Magic Cakes uses ube powder (purple yam powder) and purple gel cake food color. I substituted 3/4 cup pureed purple sweet potato for the rehydrated ube powder for this version.
Ube powder is readily available online at Amazon.com for about $8 but you will find it much cheaper- $4.59- at Filstop.com and other sites. I bought it at my local Asian market for about $5.00 and had enough for two cakes.
What is ube?
It is a Filipino purple yam-not to be confused with the Stokes Purple Sweet Potato. Read more about ube here at Huffpost's article on the natural ingredient that turns food perfectly purple.
The puree on the left is ube powder rehydrated with water and on the right is purple sweet potato puree. Both are obviously purple but you can see the that the purple sweet potato is the most vibrant.
The Purple Velvet Magic Cake is made with 2 cups of milk so it tones down the hue to more of a lavendar. In my Magic Cakes cookbook, I made it with ube powder and food coloring to enhance the color but the photos in this post using purple sweet potato does not have any food coloring-that's all natural color!
The delicate flower is Oxalis (purple Shamrock) from my flower bed. Mine was still blooming here in Gardendale, Alabama in December. Oxalis and sorrel are edible flowers so enjoy the whole thing!
You can purchase my cookbook, Magic Cakes for more than 30 magic cake recipes!
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More purple food recipes you may love:
Broccoli-Raisin and Purple Cauliflower Salad
Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake
Equipment
- springform pan
Ingredients
- 1 medium purple sweet potato or enough ube powder reconstituted to make 3/4 cup
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup 1 stick salted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups lukewarm whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place sweet potato on a foil lined pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender when tested with a fork. Let it cool to room temperature. Remove the peel and mash the sweet potato. You should have 3/4 cup potato puree.Coat an 8-inch springform pan with baking spray or line an 8-inch cake pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, if desired, and coat with baking spray.
- Reduce oven to 325 degrees.
- Separate the eggs; place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl with the sugar and beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, or until lemon-colored. On low speed, gradually add the melted butter, mashed sweet potato, and vanilla, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the flour and mix just until flour is combined. Gradually add the milk, beating just until combined.
- If using the same mixer and beaters to beat the egg whites, wash the beaters thoroughly; place the egg whites in a separate mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until foamy; add the cream of tartar. Increase the speed to high and beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Gently whisk about one-third of the egg whites into the thin batter; gently fold the remaining egg whites in with a silicone spatula. Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 38 minutes, or until the center jiggles slightly when gently shaken.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to chill. Remove sides and bottom of springform pan and transfer cake to a serving plate.
- Beat whipping cream and 1 tablespoon sugar in a mixing bowl at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form; spread it on top of cake. Garnish with edible flowers such as Oxalis or shamrock blooms.
This is so cool! Do the sweet potatoes give it a unique taste?
I'm so glad you like it! Purple sweet potatoes taste just like regular sweet potatoes to me. I've read a lot that says ube (purple yams) have a different flavor but when I made it with ube powder for the cookbook, it tasted very similar to sweet potatoes. They should be in the stores soon. Let me know what you think if you make it!
Ok, great! I'll try to make it soon if I have time 🙂
This is so cool! Thank you for mentioning our Stokes Purple sweet potatoes! We'll be sharing this for sure.
Fantastic! I also have a purple sweet potato overnight oat recipe on the blog! I'm crazy about purple sweet potatoes!
The recipe would be nice.
Hi April! I'm so glad you like the Purple Velvet Magic Cake. Right now the recipe is in my new cookbook, Magic Cakes, using ube powder. I tested a variation here with sweet potatoes instead of ube powder. Here's a link to the cookbook with it and 35 show-stopping magic cake recipes.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kathleen-royal-phillips/magic-cakes/9780762463053/ I'll try to post this one soon.
Hello can i use the ube halaya jam i made jn substitute for the actual purple yam
That jam sounds delicious and I bet it is a gorgeous color! I haven't tried the magic cake using a jam instead of the sweet potato puree so I'm not sure but my first thought is that it wouldn't be an equal substitute. Jam is mostly thickened sugar with a little fruit pureed in it whereas the mashed sweet potato/yam would have much more body to it. If you try it, I would love to know if it works. Let me know and thank you for reaching out to me! I'm always happy to help.
Thank u ! Im about to try it tommorow ill keep you posted thank u for ur response !! Ur magic cake looks so good !