Name: Sweet Potato Snack Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 box pound cake mix ((16 ounce package)); ¼ cup vegetable oil; 2 large eggs; 2/3 cup buttermilk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 cup sweet potatoes (peeled and shredded (about ½ of a sweet potato)); ½ cup walnuts (chopped); Cream cheese frosting (you can use store bought or make your favorite homemade frosting)

Enjoy making this super simple, delicious sweet potato snack cake–perfect for a quick dessert! Frost with cream cheese frosting and top with walnuts.

My craving for baked goods hits sky high when fall temperatures come. It seems every afternoon I start craving something sweet. And with two daughters who are happy to help cook and bake, this can be dangerous!

I love that this cake is small and easy. I can whip it up in under 10 minutes and not have tons of leftovers. I hope your family loves this Sweet Potato Snack Cake as much as I do!

piece of sweet potato snack cake on a plate with a fork

Why you’ll love this cake:

uses a cake mix for quick mixing
no precooking the sweet potato!
simple cinnamon flavor
small 8×8 size
not overly sweet

What is a sweet potato cake?

A sweet potato cake is any size or style of cake that has sweet potatoes in the batter. Sweet potatoes add a lot of moisture to the cake so they are usually dense, but also super moist. Some have nutmeg, ginger or pumpkin pie spice, but ours simply has cinnamon.

Which sweet potato is best for baking?

This recipe is best for the sweet potatoes that have the orange flesh. They are soft, lightly sweet and make this cake extra moist. We don’t recommend white or purple fleshed sweet potatoes.

Should I cook these sweet potatoes? Many other sweet potato cake recipes call for cooked potatoes, but this is an easier and simpler recipe. To save on time, it uses premade pound cake mix and shredded sweet potatoes, rather than cooked ones. This creates a white and orange textured look, which looks very appetizing in contrast to the white cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients:

Pound cake mix: I have only tested this with pound cake mix, but you can always try another cake mix and see how you like it! We used Betty Crocker Mix.
Vegetable oil
Eggs
Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk available, you can substitute it by adding 2 teaspoons of either distilled white vinegar or lemon juice to milk in order to sour it.
Vanilla extract
Cinnamon
Sweet potatoes (peeled and shredded)
Walnuts

How to Make Sweet Potato Snack Cake

This is a one bowl cake which means quick and easy to make and clean too!

Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8×8 baking pan or line with parchment paper.
Mix. Whisk together pound cake mix, vegetable oil, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until just combined. Fold the sweet potatoes and walnuts into your mixture.
Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Frosting Ideas:

There are several different options you can use for frosting this cake. Sure, you can buy any type of store bought frosting you’d like, but why not try homemade? Here are a few that would pair well with this cake:

7 Minute Frosting tastes like marshmallow cream….perfect for sweet potato snack cake!
Cinnamon Buttercream to pair with the cinnamon spiced cake.
Mascarpone Cream Frosting, similar to cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Whipped Frosting. Our favorite for this cake!
Keto Vanilla Buttercream for a low carb option.
Caramel Frosting. ‘Nuf said.
Classic Vanilla Buttercream for those who prefer traditional frosting.

Allow the cake to fully cool before frosting so it doesn’t melt off.

How do I store Sweet Potato Cake?

You will want to store this cake in the refrigerator. However, to keep the plastic wrap from getting stuck in the frosting, let the cake chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before covering it with plastic wrapping. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to four days.