Sweet Potato Cake Recipe | Butter Your Biscuit

Name: Sweet Potato Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 28 min
Total time: 38 min
Ingredients: 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour (spoon and leveled); 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon cinnamon; ½ tablespoon ground ginger; ½ teaspoon nutmeg; 1 cup brown sugar (packed); 2/3 cup granulated sugar; 3 large eggs; 1 cup vegetable oil; 2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (about 3 large sweet potatoes see notes); 2 teaspoons vanilla; 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature); 1 (8 ounce) pkg cream cheese (room temperature); 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 4 cups powdered sugar

This Sweet Potato Cake Recipe is moist and lightly spiced, with a thick layer of cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top. It bakes in one 9x13 pan and tastes like it came out of a bakery, and it's the cake I'd put on a holiday table next to a pan of Sweet Potato Crunch.

A slice of sweet potato cakes on a white plate and some cinnamon sticks on the side.

If you like a cake that leans more spice than sugar, this one's in the same family as my Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake and my Banana Cake with Homemade Brown Butter Frosting. And if cream cheese frosting is your thing, my Carrot Cake is worth a look too.

Quick Look: Sweet Potato Cake

⏱️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
🕒 Total Time: 38 minutes
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Servings: 12
📊 Calories: ~412 kcal per serving
🥣 Ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, brown and granulated sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, mashed sweet potatoes, vanilla, butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar.
⭐ Difficulty: Easy — one 9x13 pan, mixed by hand with an electric mixer.

Summarize & Save This Content On

Table of Contents

Why You'll Love This Recipe

It's a one-pan sheet cake. Everything bakes in a single 9x13, so there's no layering. You frost it right in the pan, same as my Gooey Butter Cake Bars.

The sweet potatoes do the work. Two cups of mashed sweet potato keep this cake genuinely moist for days, the same way applesauce does in a spice cake. No sour cream, no pudding mix.
It holds up for a crowd. It keeps covered in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, which makes it one less thing fighting for oven space on Thanksgiving morning. And if you're roasting sweet potatoes anyway, my Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Whipped Cream starts the exact same way.

How to Cook the Sweet Potatoes

You'll need 2 cups of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes for the batter — about 3 large ones. Do this part first, because they need time to cool.

In the oven: Wash the sweet potatoes, pat them dry and poke holes in them with a fork. Put them on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 45 minutes, or until a fork slides in easily. Let them cool for 10 minutes, then scoop the centers into a bowl and mash with a fork.

If the stringy bits bother you, pulse the mash in a food processor for a few seconds and it'll smooth right out. Leftover sweet potatoes work here too.

In the microwave: Poke holes in them and microwave 15 to 20 minutes, until fork tender.

Ingredients Needed

All-purpose flour: Spooned and leveled
Sweet potatoes: Leftover sweet potatoes can be used.
Cream cheese: I like to use full-fat and make sure its room temperature to prevent lumps.
Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioner sugar.

How to Make Sweet Potato Cake

All the dry ingredients mixed in a bowl and all the wet ingredients mixed into a second bowl.

Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until combined.
Step 2: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the sugars, eggs, vegetable oil, mashed sweet potatoes and vanilla until combined.

Dry ingredients poured into the wet and mixed then poured into a baking pan.

Step 3: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. Don't overmix.
Step 4: Pour the batter into a 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 28 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

All the frosting ingredients mixed together in a bowl.

Step 5: In a medium bowl add the butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, and vanilla. Using a hand mixer blend until creamy.
Step 6: Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until blended.

Sweet potato cake is baked and cooled then frosting is spread on top.

Step 7: Once the cake is done, remove it and let it cool completely before frosting.
Step 8: Use an offset spatula to frost the cake. Slice, serve, and enjoy.

A slice of sweet potato cake being picked up with a spatula.

Recipe Tips

If you have one, you can use a stand mixer to make the cake batter and the frosting instead of an electric mixer and a large mixing bowl.
You can add chopped pecans, walnuts, or other nuts to the cake pieces when serving.
The best way to serve this cake is slightly chilled or at room temperature.

A piece of sweet potato cake on a place with a bite on a fork.

Sweet Potato Cake Recipe Faq's

Are Yams and Sweet Potatoes the same thing?

No, they are not the same. Yams have a rough brown skin that resembles tree bark. Sweet potatoes have smooth reddish skin, and orange or white flesh and are sweet in flavor.

Can I use canned sweet potatoes?

If in a pinch, you can use a 15oz can of sweet potatoes. Mix and mash them in a food processor until a puree starts to form. This will work, but the fresh sweet potatoes have the best flavor.

How to store leftover cake?

Leftover cake can be covered with plastic wrap or kept in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. It should be refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting on top of the cake- not kept at room temperature. But, it's important to remember that the fridge could dry this cake out faster, so enjoying it sooner than later is recommended.

Can I freeze sweet potato cake?

Yes, let the cake cool down all the way to room temperature. wrap in plastic wrap then a layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months.