Sweet Potato Cake with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream Frosting

This is the ultimate southern Autumn dessert.

Though the cake is dense, it is surprisingly fluffy, especially when topped with the delectably, dreamy, Cinnamon Honey Buttercream Frosting.

I recently came across this cake when googling about sweet potato desserts. Turns out The Brick Tavern in Greenville, South Carolina is famous for serving a version of it, although they keep their recipe a secret. My daughter was born in Greenville SC and that right there was enough reason for me to make it right away. This will most definitely be a part of our Thanksgiving menu this year, but I would serve it any time of year and it is perfectly special enough for Birthday celebrations!

Sweet Potato Cake with Cinnamon Honey Buttercream Frosting

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  

Cake Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp kosher sea salt
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups mashed, baked sweet potatoes, cooled about 4-5 sweet potatoes
• 1 cup whole buttermilk sometimes called Bulgarian style

Cinnamon Honey Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¾ tsp kosher sea salt
• 2 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ cups honey

Instructions

 

Cake Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray two 9” rounds with Pam Baking Spray or Baker’s Secret spray. 
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. 
• In mixer bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high for 4-5 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary.
• Add beaten eggs and beat on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes until thoroughly incorporated.
• Add vanilla and sweet potatoes, beating until smooth. 
• You will need to scrape down bowl several times during this mixing process.
• Add the dry ingredients in to the butter mixture, a bit at a time and alternate with buttermilk until all ingredients are just incorporated.
• Divide batter evenly between pans and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto rack and cool completely.

Cinnamon Honey Buttercream Frosting Instructions

• Beat butter 3-4 minutes on high, until fluffy, scraping down bowl as needed. 
• Beat in cinnamon and salt until smooth.
• Add confectioners sugar a little at a time until mixed well. 
• Stream in honey, scraping down bowl as needed.
• Once all ingredients are incorporated, beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy.

Notes

• I used small to medium sweet potatoes for this recipe. I simply placed on a foil-lined baking sheet and baked at 400 degrees for about 1 hour.  When cool enough to peel, just place in a bowl and mash with a potato masher. 
• All ovens vary, so you may need to bake for a lesser or longer time, depending on your oven.
• You can also make this cake using 3 – 8” round cake pans, just cut down baking time to around 25 minutes. The frosting recipe will work ‘conservatively’ with 3 layers, but if you love a lot of frosting you may want to add to the recipe using 1 ½ times ratio on the ingredients.
• Make-ahead – this cake freezes very well, making it perfect for holiday celebrations when time is short and oven space is limited. Simply wrap the individual completely cooled layers in good quality plastic wrap and place in Ziploc freezer bags up to 2 months.  When you’re ready to serve, just thaw on the counter for a few hours and then frost!
• Cream Cheese Frosting would also be wonderful with this cake, but I urge you to first make it with the Cinnamon Honey Buttercream. It is truly a revelation!!