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Fudgy Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups Mashed roasted sweet potato, about 2 medium
- 1 cup Unsweetened almond or peanut butter, runny
- 1.5 cups Unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch-process
- 1/2 cups Pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 2 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 4/5 cup Dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp Espresso coffee powder, optional but intensifies the chocolate
Instructions
- Roast whole sweet potatoes at 400°F until completely collapsing, 45-60 minutes. Do not boil them. Boiling waterlogs the flesh, and with no flour to absorb that water, the cake will never set. Scoop out the flesh and mash smooth. Cool to room temperature.
- Lower the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment, leaving overhang on two sides. This cake will not turn out of a pan, you have to lift it.
- Stir mashed roasted sweet potato, almond or peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract together until completely smooth. Lumps of sweet potato stay lumps; there’s no batter structure to hide them in.
- Add natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) and salt and mix until no dry streaks remain. Stir baking soda into apple cider vinegar in a small cup. Fold it in immediately as it begins to foam. Mix in the dark chocolate chips. Get it into the pan right away; the lift starts the moment the acid and base meet.
- Spread evenly and bake 30-35 minutes. The edges will pull away slightly and the center will feel set but soft. It will look underdone. There’s no egg to carry over-cooking, and an extra five minutes turns it chalky.
- Cool completely in the pan, then refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting. When warm, it has no structure at all and will not slice; chilled, it firms into clean fudgy squares.
