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    Home > Desserts and Cakes > Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake

    Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake

    Published: Dec 5, 2021 · Modified: Dec 21, 2023 by Kathleen · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See full disclosure

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    Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake is made from one thin batter and magically creates a 3 layer purple dessert! The magic happens in the oven! Make it with purple sweet potatoes or ube powder (purple yams)-or even orange sweet potatoes.

    Purple Sweet potato Magic Cake with a slice cut and placed on a white plate with forks on a white tablecloth. Garnished with purple oxalis

    SAVE THIS RECIPE

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    If you're searching for purple desserts, this stunning, yet easy recipe, will be a show stopper at your Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinner!

    No food coloring here! Just fresh purple sweet potatoes from California. Purple sweet potatoes are in season fall through early spring. 

    This is one of the most beautiful purple sweet potato dessert recipes I've ever made or seen!

    Watch video on how to make Chocolate Magic Cake

    Click on the image below to watch the video on SouthernLiving.com

    Woman in blue shirt holding cookbook with magic cakes in front of her.

    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.

    Frieda's Specialty produce Stokes purple sweet potatoes

    I substituted ¾ cup pureed purple sweet potato for the rehydrated ube powder for this version.

    Ube powder vs purple sweet potatoes

    Ube powder is readily available online at Amazon. I bought it at my local Asian market for about $5.00 and had enough for two cakes.

    Bowls of purple sweet potato puree and hydrated purple ube powder

    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 for Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake is using purple sweet potato does not have any food coloring-that's all natural color!

    purple sweet potato magic cake slice on a white plate garnished with purple oxalis flower

    You can purchase my cookbook, Magic Cakes to enjoy more than 30 different magic cake flavors!

    Helpful information

    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 and when can I buy purple sweet potatoes?

    September and October is peak season for them and I spotted them at Publix! But you can still find them in some larger grocery stores and farmers markets fall through very early Spring.

    What is ube?

    Ube 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 enzyme that turns food perfectly purple.

    Leave a comment below the printable recipe if you have questions or want to tell me how you liked the recipe. Don't forget to give the recipe a rating of 5 stars if you love it!

    More purple food recipes you may love:

    Roasted Purple Cauliflower

    Broccoli-Raisin and Purple Cauliflower Salad

    Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. Be social and share, y'all! Want all my new recipes and updates? Get my weekly newsletter in your inbox!

    Slice of purple magic cake with whipped cream on top on a white plate.

    Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake

    Kathleen Phillips: GritsAndGouda.com
    Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake is a version of Purple Velvet Magic Cake in my cookbook, Magic Cakes. The Purple Velvet Magic Cake in my cookbook is made with ube powder (made from purple yams from Philippines). This recipe uses real purple sweet potatoes.
    5 from 8 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

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    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 38 minutes mins
    Total Time 53 minutes mins
    Servings 8 servings

    Equipment

    • 9 inch springform pan
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 medium purple sweet potato or enough ube powder reconstituted to make ¾ cup
    • 4 large eggs at room temperature
    • ¾ cup granulated sugar
    • ½ cup 1 stick salted butter, melted
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 cups lukewarm whole milk
    • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
    • 1 cup whipping cream or heavy whipping cream (or 2 cups Cool Whip)
    • 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 ¾ 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.

    Notes

    Regular orange sweet potatoes can be used for this recipe to make a perfect Fall cake. Add ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice to the flour mixture for a sweet potato pie flavored-cake.
    Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake is made with fresh purple sweet potatoes (from California). The taste is similar but the color from the sweet potatoes is more vibrant than the ube powder and didn't need any food coloring.
    You can also cook the sweet potato in the air fryer for about 40 minutes depending on the size of your potato. Make sure it is very tender.
    For a shortcut, skip the whipping cream and sugar and just spread on 2 cups of Cool Whip.
     

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1sliceCalories: 298kcal
    Did you make this recipe?If you love it, share it! Comment below before you go!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. April Ouweleen

      January 08, 2018 at 7:28 pm

      The recipe would be nice.

      Reply
      • gritsandgouda

        January 08, 2018 at 8:55 pm

        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.

        Reply
        • Audrey Sarmiento

          May 05, 2020 at 3:47 pm

          Hello can i use the ube halaya jam i made jn substitute for the actual purple yam

          Reply
          • gritsandgouda

            May 05, 2020 at 4:09 pm

            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.

            Reply
            • Audrey Sarmiento

              May 05, 2020 at 10:24 pm

              Thank u ! Im about to try it tommorow ill keep you posted thank u for ur response !! Ur magic cake looks so good !

    2. Oakley @ Frieda's

      January 02, 2018 at 4:47 pm

      This is so cool! Thank you for mentioning our Stokes Purple sweet potatoes! We'll be sharing this for sure.

      Reply
      • gritsandgouda

        January 02, 2018 at 5:15 pm

        Fantastic! I also have a purple sweet potato overnight oat recipe on the blog! I'm crazy about purple sweet potatoes!

        Reply
    3. Dominick Cura

      December 13, 2017 at 7:58 pm

      This is so cool! Do the sweet potatoes give it a unique taste?

      Reply
      • gritsandgouda

        December 13, 2017 at 9:28 pm

        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!

        Reply
        • Dominick Cura

          December 13, 2017 at 11:13 pm

          Ok, great! I'll try to make it soon if I have time 🙂

          Reply
    5 from 8 votes (8 ratings without comment)

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    Hi y'all! I’m Kathleen. I share Southern shortcut recipes! I’m a food stylist, cookbook author, and former test kitchen director in Alabama. I take traditional Southern recipes you know and love (and a few new ones) and make them with shortcuts so you can enjoy them faster.

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    Hi y'all! I’m Kathleen. I share Southern shortcut recipes! I’m a food stylist, cookbook author, and former test kitchen director in Alabama. I take traditional Southern recipes you know and love (and a few new ones) and make them with shortcuts so you can enjoy them faster.

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