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Sweet Potato Pound Cake with Brown Butter Cinnamon Glaze

A dense, tender sweet potato pound cake built on roasted sweet potato, cake flour, and sour cream, finished with a brown butter cinnamon glaze that sets into a thin cracking shell.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword sweet potato pound cake with brown butter cinnamon glaze
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings 14 slices

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3 cups cake flour sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg freshly grated if possible
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 5 large eggs room temperature
  • ¾ cup sour cream full fat, room temperature
  • 1 cup mashed sweet potato roasted, not boiled
  • 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract

For the Brown Butter Cinnamon Glaze

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Roast the Sweet Potato

  • Prick a large sweet potato all over and roast at 400 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes, until the skin puckers and juice weeps from the fork holes.
  • Cool, scoop the flesh from the skin, mash smooth, and measure exactly 1 cup. Bring it to room temperature before mixing.

Make the Batter

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10 to 12 cup bundt pan, working into every groove.
  • Whisk together the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
  • Beat the room temperature butter and granulated sugar on medium-high for 5 to 7 minutes, until pale and visibly increased in volume.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down the bowl.
  • Mix in the sour cream, mashed sweet potato, and vanilla until just combined. The batter may look slightly broken at this stage.
  • Add the dry ingredients in two additions on low speed, mixing only until the flour disappears. Finish the last few turns by hand with a spatula.

Bake and Cool

  • Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and rap the pan on the counter twice to release air pockets.
  • Bake for 70 to 80 minutes, until a skewer in the thickest part comes out with a few moist crumbs and no wet batter.
  • Cool in the pan for exactly 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before glazing.

Make the Glaze

  • Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. It will foam, then quiet, then the milk solids will turn amber and smell nutty, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat immediately.
  • Whisk in the honey, then the powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon, and salt until smooth and pourable.
  • Let the glaze cool 5 minutes to thicken slightly, then pour it over the completely cooled cake and let it set.

Notes

  • Roast, do not boil: Boiled sweet potato adds water the batter cannot absorb and is the main cause of a gummy pound cake.
  • Room temperature matters: Pull the butter, eggs, and sour cream out 2 hours ahead so the batter emulsifies properly.
  • Cream fully: A full 5 to 7 minutes on medium-high. This is the cake's only real lift.
  • Cake flour swap: For each cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons and replace with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, then sift twice.
  • The 15-minute rule: Cool in the pan exactly 15 minutes before inverting. Longer and the sugars grip the pan.
  • Cool cake, cool glaze: Hot glaze on a warm cake soaks in and disappears instead of setting into a shell.
  • Storage: Wrapped at room temperature up to 4 days, refrigerated up to 1 week, or frozen unglazed up to 3 months.