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Sweet Potato Cake is a Southern favorite for a reason! It’s moist and flavorful, with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and topped with a fluffy marshmallow buttercream frosting.
This delicately spiced cake is perfect for fall and a welcome addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table! For more fall desserts, try my Sweet Potato Pie or No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake.
Why We Love This Recipe
- Moist and Tender – Sweet potato adds moisture to this cake, making it so soft, tender, and perfectly dense without being heavy.
- Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting – If you love buttercream frosting as much as I do, you’re in the right place! This drool-worthy marshmallow frosting is perfectly sweet and fluffy.
- Perfect For Thanksgiving – If you want a new option for your Thanksgiving dessert, this Sweet Potato Cake will hit the spot! It’s a deliciously spiced Southern favorite that you need to add to your fall baking list.
RECIPE WALK-THROUGH
How To Make Sweet Potato Cake
See the recipe card below for full, detailed instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, then grease and flour a 9×13 inch cake pan.
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
- Beat the oil, sugars, eggs & vanilla together, then mix in the mashed sweet potato.
- With the mixer on low, beat in the flour mixture about ½ at a time, alternating with the milk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Make the frosting: Beat the butter until fluffy, then mix in the marshmallow fluff. Mix in the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, until the desired sweetness is reached. Then mix in the cream.
- Let the cake cool, then frost. Decorate with pecans if desired.
Serving Suggestions
This cake is perfect for serving after your Thanksgiving dinner! Build your feast around my Foolproof Thanksgiving Turkey, Fluffy Mashed Potatoes, Homemade Stuffing, and Green Bean Casserole. Don’t forget the Cranberry Sauce!
Storage Tips
The Best Way to Store Leftovers
Store leftover Sweet Potato Cake wrapped in plastic wrap or an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
You can freeze an unfrosted cake for up to 2 months. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then bring the cake to room temperature before frosting and serving.
Recipe Tips
- Mashed Sweet Potato – You have a couple of options here, depending on how much work you want to do! You can boil the sweet potatoes, remove the skins, and mash them (or put them in the blender). Or you can buy a can of sweet potato puree. Just make sure it’s 100% sweet potatoes – we don’t want any garlic or onion in there!
- Nut-Free Cake – Feel free to skip the pecans to keep this cake nut free if you prefer.
More Fall Favorites
- Sweet Potato Muffins
- Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cranberry Fluff Salad
- Pumpkin Cranberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Southern Pecan Pie
Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Frosting
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Cake
- 2 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
- 1 cup White sugar
- 3/4 cup Brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 3 Large eggs
- 2 cups Mashed/pureed sweet potato
- 1/2 cup Milk
Marshmallow Frosting
- 2/3 cup Unsalted butter softened
- 7 ounces Marshmallow fluff
- 2 cups Powdered sugar add more if needed
- 1 tablespoon Heavy cream or milk; add more as needed
- 1/4 cup Chopped pecans optional
Instructions
Sweet Potato Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch cake pan.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
- In a large bowl beat together the oil, sugars, eggs & vanilla extract until no sugar lumps remain. Then mix in the mashed sweet potato.
- With the mixer on low beat in the flour mixture about ½ at a time, alternating with the milk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the cake doesn’t wobble if you give the pan a nudge.
Marshmallow Frosting
- In a large bowl beat the butter until fluffy.
- Then mix in the marshmallow fluff.
- Mix in the powdered sugar about 1 cup at a time, until the desired sweetness is reached. Then mix in the cream/milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Frost the cooled cake, then optionally decorate with pecans.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Can you substitute the icing with cream cheese icing instead? I don’t have marshmallow fluff or marshmallows.
Sure, you can use any frosting you like.
Excellent cake. Baked for 40 minutes and it was perfect. The marshmallow frosting complimented this cake perfectly.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Taryn.
How long would leftovers last in the fridge? Also, can I bake the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them? Would that make a difference? Thank you!
Hi, covered in the fridge the cake will last 5 days. You can cook the sweet potatoes any way you like.
Would almond milk substitute for the milk?
Thank you
Almond milk would be sweeter, so you might want to reduce the sugar just a little.
Can you use Bruce’s mashed sweet potatoes
If it equals 2 cups and it’s 100% pure sweet potato, sure.
I made the cake but used a cream cheese maple buttercream. It. Is. DELICIOUS.
Nice! Thank you so much Karen for stopping by.
As a true Southern girl, I have always believed that “anything a pumpkin can do, a sweet potato can do BETTER”! Love this idea.
Sharon, So glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for stopping by!
Sounds yummy and plan to make this weekend. Thanks ?
Thanks Judy,
Thank you for stopping by!
What an interesting recipe! And the ingredients are all in my kitchen! I’ll cook today! I will rejoice my family! Thank you for what you inspire to create culinary masterpieces.