Description

Sweet potatoes make a great icing because of their naturally creamy texture and high sugar content. Most of the dairy-free icings either have too much-processed sugar or are made from nuts that are more calorie-dense. Sweet potatoes are perfect and you don’t have to feel guilty when you feed it to your kids or eat them yourself. They are perfect for birthday cakes or cupcakes or any other dessert that calls for frosting.

Method:

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Line an 8×8-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together soy milk and vinegar. Let it stand for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the apple sauce, sugar, and vanilla extract, and whisk together until the mixture becomes frothy.
5. Sift together the dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk them together until the dry ingredients dissolve.
7. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Cool the pan for about 15 minutes and then turn the cake out of the pan. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes, either by boiling, steaming or baking them. I prefer baking them for 40 minutes as it concentrates the sweetness and you can get a thick creamy frosting.
2.  Let them cool. Remove the skin and purée them in the blender or food processor. Measure 2 cups of puréed mixture.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pureed mixture and blend until smooth. Taste the mixture. You can add more cocoa for more chocolatey flavour or sweetener for more sweetness.
4. Let the mixture cool in the fridge for 30 minutes before using as a cake frosting.
5. You can store the excess frosting in the fridge for a few days.
6. I always make double or triple batches and store it in the fridge for future use on baked goods.