Best Chocolate Cake

When Kendall tried this cake, he declared that it tasted like "regular" chocolate cake to him. Texture, taste, and all, this recipe really takes the cake ;) For a recipe with no oil, eggs, dairy, butter, refined sugar, and 100% whole wheat flour, I think that's saying quite a lot. Besides that, it's mostly made out of a special secret ingredient that Kendall hates...... read on!

I wanted a different dessert for my birthday this year--something new and something delicious. And something you could really stick a candle in! As you can see, it succeeded on all counts. 

 I will finally reveal that this cake is made out of sweet potatoes! Makes for a lovely moist texture and it holds up really well. Therefore, blending both the cake and the frosting for this recipe is a really important step. I made something with sweet potato puree the other week and didn't have it fully mashed because I used a hand mixer. Did I have chunks of sweet potato in the finished product? Yes. Can Kendall detect those sorts of hidden ingredients? Yes. 

 This recipe originally has chocolate chips in the batter, so if you eat that kind of thing I think it would be quite delicious! It was also originally made with spelt flour, so you could use that for a gluten-free option. The recipe called for 1/2 C maple syrup if I doubled it for the double layer, but something inside me rebelled against using that much and I think I ended up only doing 1/4 C still. Up to you! But this cake is SO GOOD. We mourned its loss so much once we polished it off, that I made another chocolate cake the very next day. It is also gone.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Plant Powered Kitchen

1 1/2 C peeled, cooked, and cooled orange sweet potato
1 C plus 2 T water, divided
1/4-1/2 C maple syrup
2 T balsamic vinegar
4 tsp vanilla
2 C whole wheat flour
2/3 C coconut sugar
1 scant tsp salt
1/2 C cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 scant teaspoons baking soda

1 recipe chocolate frosting, see below

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9” round (or square!) cake pans (or one 9x13 pan) and/or fit the bottom of the pan with a small piece of parchment paper. No parchment paper is needed if using a 9x13.

2. In a blender (or using a handheld blender and a deep cup or vessel), puree the sweet potato, 1 cup of the water, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and vanilla until completely smooth. 

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, coconut sugar, and sea salt, then sift in the cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. 

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry (be sure to scrape out all the blended ingredients with a spatula, and use the remaining 2 tablespoons of water to rinse the blender jar and get out any remaining puree). Mix until just well incorporated. 

5. Transfer to the prepared pan, bake for 21–23 minutes. Let cool on a cooling rack for about ten minutes before removing from pans and letting cool completely. If using a 9x13, don't remove from the pan. Once cooled, frost in between the cake layers and on the tops and sides with the frosting recipe below. Store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Frosting

Makes about 2 1/4 cups.

2/3–3/4 C coconut sugar or other unrefined sugar

1 loosely packed cup peeled, cooked, and cooled sweet potato (yellow or orange)
1/2 C cocoa powder
1/2 scant cup almond or cashew butter
1/4 rounded tsp salt
2–5 T almond milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Blend coconut sugar with some cornstarch or arrowroot powder until powdery (I had a hard time reaching this phase, so just do your best. The more you succeed, the less grainy the frosting will be).

2. Place the sweet potato, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, nut butter, salt, 1–2 tablespoons of the milk (resist the urge to put in all 5 right now), and vanilla in a blender or food processor and puree until very smooth. 

3. Add milk as necessary, to reach desired consistency. If you used orange sweet potato, you will probably not need as much milk as you would using yellow. 

4. Puree until smooth, scraping down the blender/processor bowl as needed. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until ready to use.