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Do you dream about eating sweets for breakfast? This Sweet Potato Crumb Cake is perfect for just that! The best part is that it’s made using healthy sweet potatoes paired with just a few other easy ingredients.
There’s nothing better than starting off the day with this sweet potato coffee cake. Get your coffee pot brewing and warm up a piece of this cake. It’s one of the best ways to start the day!
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Best Sweet Potato Crumb Cake
Is this a sweet potato dessert or a sweet potato breakfast? The answer is whatever you want it to be! The only thing I know for certain is that this sweet potato crunch cake is delicious, and everyone always wants more.
Anytime my kids want a “special” breakfast, this sweet potato cake recipe is immediately on my radar.
Can I share a secret with you? Before making this simple sweet potato recipe, I always just thought that you baked or boiled sweet potatoes to eat them. Crazy, right?
Never did it cross my mind to make a crumb cake like this! I’m so glad that the foodie in me took over and created this sweet surprise. There’s really nothing quite like the flavor!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s a dessert or a sweet breakfast, or a late night snack!
- It’s full of healthiness from the added sweet potatoes
- You can save some to enjoy it the next day as well
Who invented Sweet Potato Crumb Cake?
Crumb cake was actually created in Germany, and thank goodness it was! I can’t imagine my life without this delicious treat.
The great thing about making crumb cake is that you can change the ingredients. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorites, but you can also make fruit crumb cakes, too.
This recipe comes from a friends’ cookbook: Grandbaby Cakes by Jocelyn Delk Adams. Her cakes are LEGIT!
Ingredients in Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
The flavor of this dessert doesn’t showcase how easy this recipe really is! Just a few easy ingredients are all you’ll need.
- All-purpose flour – make sure that there aren’t any lumps in the flour.
- Granulated sugar – needed to sweeten the cake and the streusel topping.
- Brown sugar – boosts that sweetness factor!
- Ground cinnamon – you can never have too much cinnamon.
- Unsalted butter – the butter needs to be melted prior to use.
- Eggs whites and yolks separated – eggs need to be at room temperature.
- Vegetable oil – coconut oil would work as well.
- Sweet potatoes roasted, peeled, and mashed
- Hot water – the temperature of the water is important!
- Vanilla extract – adding vanilla always enhances the flavor.
- Baking powder – helps with the texture.
- Baking soda – adds a fluffy texture.
- Ground cloves – pairs perfectly with the cloves and nutmeg.
- Salt – just a pinch.
- Ground nutmeg – nutmeg adds a great warmth of flavor.
How to make this Sweet Potato Dessert
- This is one of my favorite sweet potato dessert recipes, and I think you’re going to love it as well!
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13” pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Make the streusel: in a medium bowl, whisk flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Slowly add melted butter and whisk until crumbs are formed. The mixture will look wet, but it’s supposed to look that way.
- Beat the eggs: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer the egg whites to a small bowl and chill until ready to use.
- Combine: Clean your stand mixer bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Beat the granulated sugar and oil on medium-high speed until combined. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, hot water, and vanilla and beat for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add the dry ingredients: Turn your mixer to its lowest speed and carefully add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Mix until the batter is just combined, being careful not to over-mix. Remove the egg whites from the refrigerator and gently fold them in using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Pour: Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Top with half the streusel. Repeat with remaining batter and streusel. Bake for 55-65 minutes until a toothpick comes out moist but mostly clean. Let cool in the pan.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Serve warm or at room temperature. Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Expert Tips
You want to be very careful that you don’t overmix the ingredients. Also, if you can, use an egg separator for the whites and the yolks for the best results.
Make sure to follow the steps to make the crumble topping perfectly. It’s the star of the sweet potato show!
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Sweet Potato Crumb Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Streusel:
- ¾ cup (93g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter melted
For the Cake:
- 4 large eggs whites and yolks separated, room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (237ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large sweet potatoes roasted, peeled, and mashed
- ⅓ cup (79ml) hot water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13” pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Make the streusel: in a medium bowl, whisk flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Slowly add melted butter and whisk until crumbs are formed. The mixture will look wet, but it’s supposed to look that way.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer the egg whites to a small bowl and chill until ready to use.
- Clean your stand mixer bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Beat the granulated sugar and oil on medium-high speed until combined. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, hot water, and vanilla and beat for another 3-4 minutes.
- Turn your mixer to it’s lowest speed and carefully add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Mix until the batter is just combined, being careful not to over mix. Remove the egg whites from the refrigerator and gently fold them in using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Top with half the streusel. Repeat with remaining batter and streusel. Bake for 55-65 minutes until a toothpick comes out moist but mostly clean. Let cool in the pan. Serve warm or room temperature. Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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Can you make your sweet potato crumb cake into muffins? I’m not a great baker but I have a ton of sweet potatoes that I somehow ended up with after a grocery order bought online and would like to use them up rather then put them in a green bin!!
I think you can yes – if you try it let me know how it goes!
This cake was exceptional! I really like that half the carbs are from healthy sweet potatoes instead of flour. I used half the amounts of sugar called for in the crumbs and in the batter. (That’s why I only gave it 4 stars. No need to over-dose on sugar.) The only spice I used was cinnamon. The cake was still very sweet and delish.
I absolutely love this recipe. It is not overly sweet. You can taste the sweet potato. So good. Thank you for this recipe. I will make this again for sure.
The best cake I’ve ever had! It was a HUGE hit with friends/family. I will be making this anytime I need a dessert. Seriously, try this recipe.
I made this for a potluck breakfast at the office. People were going crazy over it, especially the streusel. I’m not sure they even realized it had sweet potato in it. It was wonderfully late, likely because of the lights being whipped and then fold it in. I did add a half a cup of chopped toasted pecans to the streusel mix, which didn’t hurt a bit. I also served 3 1/2 teaspoons of Penzeys cake spice for the spice mix in the cake batter. I did not line the cake pan, just sprayed it with coconut oil baking spray and had no problems with lifting out by the piece for serving.
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