16 sweet potato cake recipes

A three-layer Southern cake with grated sweet potatoes, warm spices, and chopped nuts, finished with a rich coconut frosting. The surprise? Nobody guesses it's sweet potato.

Viennese chocolate torte for Passover uses ground walnuts, cake meal, and potato starch in place of flour. A flourless-style torte split and filled with apricot-orange preserves and finished with a chocolate-orange glaze.

Whole grain sweet potato biscuits made with mashed yams, whole wheat flour, and a touch of brown sugar. Tender, faintly sweet, and built for honey butter or sausage gravy.

Sweet potato pie with nutmeg and margarine in a simple 5-ingredient filling. A no-fuss Southern classic that comes together fast with boiled sweet potatoes.

Garden-fresh sweet potato pie with a rich buttermilk custard filling, two sticks of butter, and pure vanilla. No spices needed when the sweet potatoes do all the talking. Baked low and slow, makes two pies.

Classic Southern sweet potato pie with boiled sweet potatoes whipped smooth with butter, sugar, cinnamon, evaporated milk, eggs, and vanilla. This recipe makes two pies, because one is never enough.

Southern sweet potato pie with mashed sweet potatoes, warm spices, and a brightening splash of fresh lemon or orange juice. Pecan halves on top add Southern charm. The two-stage bake delivers a custard that sets without cracking.

These quick and easy fritters are made with sweet potatoes, peas, fresh mint, cilantro, and whole wheat flour. They are not only good for you, but also taste delicious. Serve these warm fritters with sour cream, hot sauce or any your favorite dipping sauce.

The combination of black beans and sweet potato gives these brownies a moreish, moist quality. These are great for kids as they contain no added sugar or trans-fats (you may wish to omit the coffee and substitute cacao powder if serving to youngsters, though).

Pumpkin cookies sweeten with honey instead of refined sugar, fold in raisins, dates, and chopped nuts, and spice with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Soft, cake-like, and made with whole wheat pastry flour. Healthy enough for breakfast.

Southern sweet potato casserole with buttermilk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg baked until set. A crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving side dish with warm spice in every spoonful.

Southern sweet potato corn pones made with buttermilk, cornmeal, bacon drippings, and mashed sweet potato. Shaped by hand and baked golden on a griddle.

A warmly spiced sweet potato loaf sweetened with molasses and honey, made with whole wheat flour and loaded with walnuts. Moist, fragrant, and naturally wholesome.

Wholesome sweet potato cookies made with whole-wheat flour, oats, coconut, wheat germ, and chopped nuts, sweetened with honey and brown sugar. Soft, chewy, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Makes 4 dozen.

This is plain cornbread, not a corn flavored cake, so don't expect it to be fluffy or sweet. It's great with black-eyed peas, new potatoes, green onions, sliced tomatoes, and buttermilk, i.e., your basic Southern farm fare. It's also very nice cold, broken into bite-sized pieces in a glass of cold milk and eaten with a spoon.

Polynesian yam casserole with bananas, crushed pineapple, and toasted coconut. A tropical sweet potato bake with just 5 ingredients and no added butter or sugar.