Why You’ll Love this Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake
- Rich, chocolatey flavor with natural sweetness
- Moist, fudgy texture without any dairy or gluten
- Refined sugar-free and optionally paleo
- Made with simple whole food ingredients
- Perfect for birthdays, holidays, or anytime you want a healthier dessert
Love healthy desserts? Try these paleo brownies and coconut flour chocolate chip cookies next.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Potato Cake
- Mashed sweet potato (about 2 medium)
- Eggs
- Coconut oil or vegan butter
- Maple syrup and coconut sugar
- Coconut flour
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla, baking powder, and salt
For the Frosting
- Mashed sweet potato
- Natural peanut butter (or avocado for paleo)
- Maple syrup
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla and salt
Looking for more chocolate desserts? Try paleo chocolate cake or this easy chocolate chip mug cake.
How to Make Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake
- Cook and Mash the Sweet Potatoes Peel, cube, and boil sweet potatoes until fork tender. Drain, cool, pat dry, and mash. Measure out 2 cups for the cake and 1½ cups for the frosting.
- Blend the Cake Batter In a food processor, blend 2 cups mashed sweet potato with all other cake ingredients until smooth. Spread into a greased and parchment-lined 9×9 pan.
- Bake the Cake Bake at 350°F for 40–45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- Make the Frosting Blend remaining mashed sweet potato with peanut butter, maple syrup, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
- Assemble and Frost Spread frosting on top of one layer, then top with the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides. Chill until ready to serve.
Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake
This ultra-moist chocolate sweet potato cake is rich, fudgy, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup and coconut sugar. It's made with wholesome ingredients like mashed sweet potatoes, cocoa powder, and coconut flour, and topped with a silky chocolate peanut butter frosting—no refined sugar, dairy, or gluten in sight.
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Servings: 16 square pieces
Ingredients
Chocolate Potato Cake
- 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut oil room temperature (or vegan butter)
- 1/2 pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium sweet potato)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter or 1/2 an avocado for paleo/nut-free
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×9 inch baking pan with cooking spray then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
- Cook sweet potato (10 min): Peel and cube the sweet potato (for cake and frosting) into 1-inch chunks. Add to a large saucepan and cover with one inch of water. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and cool the pat them dry with a paper towel to remove some of the moisture.2 cups mashed sweet potatoes, 1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potato
- Make the cake batter (10 min): Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. Transfer 2 cups to a food processor. Add the remaining cake ingredients and blend until smooth, 1-2 minutes.2 large eggs, 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1/2 pure maple syrup, 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1 cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Bake the cake (45 min): Pour the into the prepared cake pan and smooth out to the edges using a rubber spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting (5 min): Add the reserved 1 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potato to the food processor with the remaining frosting ingredients. Blend on high until really smooth and creamy.1/2 cup natural peanut butter, 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Frost and serve (5 min): Add the frosting on top of the cooled potato cake and use an offset spatula to smooth it out to the edges. Slice and serve right away or store in the fridge until you're ready to serve.
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review letting us know how it was!
Notes
Prep-Ahead: Boil and mash sweet potatoes ahead of time to save prep time.
Nut-free version: swap half an avocado for the peanut butter.
Fridge: store the cooled and frosted cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. To freeze, wrap the cooled cake only in plastic wrap then store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before frosting.
Nutrition
Serving: 1piece | Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 320mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 6041IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tips and Variations
- Swap peanut butter with almond butter or sunflower seed butter
- Use avocado in the frosting for a paleo version
- Make it ahead: store frosted cake in the fridge for up to 5 days
- Add chopped dark chocolate or walnuts to the batter for texture
FAQs
Can I use regular potatoes?
You can use mashed potatoes rather than mashed sweet potatoes. Make sure they’re cold and they don’t contain any butter or milk.
Can I use canned sweet potato puree?
Yes, but make sure it’s 100% sweet potato with no added sugar or spices.
Is this recipe gluten-free?
Yes, when using certified gluten-free coconut flour.
Can I make it a layered cake?
You can pour the batter into two 6-inch round cake pans and bake for 25-30 ish minutes. Frost in between the layers and all around the cake!
Can I freeze the cake?
Yes! Wrap slices individually and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Chocolate Desserts
- The best paleo chocolate layer cake
- Paleo chocolate salted cookie bars
- Chocolate paleo pecan pie
- Paleo chocolate caramel tart
- Easy paleo brownies
- Keto cake
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Delicious – the batter was quite dry so I added coc milk to it
Hi, I just put this cake in the oven and can’t wait to bring it to my gluten/dairy free friend. Just some comments on the recipe I printed out here. It says 1/2 maple syrup. I just went ahead and corrected it to say 1/2 cup. Hope I’m right! Also, in the print out instructions there was some indication of two cake pans going into the oven. Unless you read all the details in the long description of how to make the cake, (I didn’t) you wouldn’t know that there’s instructions to make it in 2 cake pans if you want.
Lastly, in the ingredients it calls for 1 1/2 C of sweet potato for the frosting. But in the instructions it says to reserve 2 cups for the frosting. Hope I have enough.
I hope these notes are helpful and not to be taken as too critical. I’m sure this cake will be yummy!
What about the FAT grams if you substitute avacado for the peanut butter??
The Swt potatoe chocolate cake.
Thanks