Sweet Potato Pound Cake Recipe

Makes

8-10 slices

Ingredients

125g peeled and cubed sweet potato
130g unbleached plain flour
65g plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
100g raw brown sugar
110ml sparkling mineral water
3 tbsp apple concentrate (see method for an alternative)
65g sunflower oil
100g plain, soft tofu
100ml oat or soy cream
1-kg loaf pan, neatly lined with parchment paper (if you snip diagonally into the corners of the paper, it will fit more snuggly into the pan)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas mark 4. Steam the cubes of sweet potato for 10 minutes or until they are soft, but they should not fall apart when you prick them.

2. Sift together the flours, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well.

3. Mix together the sparkling water and apple concentrate. You can use apple juice instead, but the sparkling water works well with bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and makes this cake moist and spongy. In a separate bowl, mix together the apple juice, oil, tofu and cream until smooth.

4. Combine the dry and liquid ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold in the steamed cubes of potato, reserving a couple of pieces for decoration. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and spread level with a spatula. Sprinkle the reserved potatoes over the top and press them in lightly.

5. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove it, peel off the paper and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Serve a slice of the cake with a cup of warm green tea scented with lemon or lime. The best way to keep the cake moist is wrapped in a clean kitchen towel.

Recipe extracted from The Vegan Baker by Dunja Gulin. Photography by Clare Winfield. Published by Ryland Peters & Small.

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