Autumn is sweet potato season. And I had coconut crumble I wanted to use. That's the Sweet Potato Coffee Cake origin story.
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake is a moist not too sweet treat to have with a cup of coffee (as the name suggests) or tea. Hot cocoa's good, too.
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
Text and Photo by Jac Kyles Baker
Makes one 6 inch cake
Ingredients
3 TB unsalted butter, softened
1 TB vegetable oil
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 TB sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup mashed sweet potatoes
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup coconut crumble (recipe below)
cinnamon or powdered sugar for sprinkling top of cake, optional
Preparation
Butter a 6 inch round microwave safe pan.
Make cake:
Whisk flour and baking powder together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl: beat sugar, salt, oil and butter until light and creamy. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Beat in mashed sweet potato, egg and egg yolk.
Make a well in the bottom of the flour bowl. Add about a third of the liquid mixture to the well and stir in some of the flour. Repeat until liquid and flour forms a thick batter. Do not over mix.
Spread half of batter in the prepared pan. Cover batter with the coconut crumble, pressing gently into the batter. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining batter on the coconut crumble.
Microwave on HIGH for a total of 2 minutes, checking the cake's progress after 1 minute. Test doneness by sticking a toothpick into center of cake; a few crumbs should cling to toothpick.
Cool on rack for five minutes. Remove cake from pan. Cool cake completely on rack.
Dust cake with cinnamon or powdered sugar, if desired.
Cook's Notes
Microwave power varies. Adjust power and times accordingly.
Coconut Crumble
Ingredients
3 TB unsalted butter, softened
2 TB packed light or dark brown sugar
2 TB granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Preparation
Whisk butter, sugars and salt until smooth. Add coconut. Stir in flour. Make sure all the flour is coated. Press dough into clumps with fingers.
Place crumb topping in freezer to set (minimum 15 minutes). The butter in a freshly made crumb topping will melt and form a crust instead of a crumble.
Set aside until ready to use. Crumb topping can be made ahead a stored in an airtight container. Keep refrigerated.