With an easy stir-together method and a naturally sweet flavor, this delicious Sweet Potato Cake is the perfect baby cake for a first birthday, a festive holiday dessert, or a treat to share on a day that needs it!
Sweet Potato Cake
Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and have all of my first birthday cakes developed so I could have made them for all of my babies—but at least I get to share them with you now!
This simple and healthy baby cake is easy to stir together, perfect to make ahead, and sweetened with mashed sweet potato and maple syrup so it’s an ideal first birthday cake.
We often have this in the fall as a seasonal dessert to share with the whole family.
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Baby Cake
While I love this cake myself, it is especially great for a first birthday cake. It is super soft, has nice flavor, and is lightly sweetened with maple syrup. It’s such a fun smash cake, especially if you have a baby who loves sweet potato!
Ingredients You Need
To make this baby cake you’ll need:
- Mashed sweet potato puree: This is easy to make, but you’ll want to plan to make it ahead of baking. You can also use canned unsweetened sweet potato puree.
- Vegetable oil: This helps to keep the cake nice and moist.
- Maple syrup: We use this as the sweetener in this recipe. You can also use honey for kids over age 1 if you prefer.
- Egg: This helps bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla extract: Adding a bit of vanilla extract helps give the cake a yummy flavor.
- All-purpose flour: This helps the cake stay light and fluffy.
- Baking powder and baking soda: These help ensure the cake rises and bakes through evenly.
- Cinnamon: This adds that classic sweet potato cake flavor.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: This is a simple mix of cream cheese, butter, honey, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
Ingredient Substitutions
- You can use pumpkin puree in place of the sweet potato if you prefer.
- If you’d prefer to use whole wheat pastry flour in place of the all-purpose, you can do that.
- Use honey instead of maple syrup for kids over 1 if desired.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 style of gluten-free baking mix.
What kind of sweet potato puree is best for this?
To make the mashed sweet potato, you can make Mashed Roasted Sweet Potato or Crockpot Sweet Potatoes. Do this step ahead of time (even up to three days ahead if you store it in an airtight container in the fridge) so the sweet potato is cool when you are ready to make the cake.
You can also just do it an hour or two before you plan to bake.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the process involved in making this birthday cake. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
- Stir the wet ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Gently stir in the dry ingredients.
- Line the cake pans with circles of parchment paper.
- Divide the batter into the pans and bake!
- Make the cream cheese frosting.
- Top one layer with some of the frosting and spread evenly. Add the second layer and frost to the edges.
TIP: Trace the cake pans onto parchment paper, then cut out just inside the lines to make rounds that fit into the pans. This is a foolproof way to line pans to prevent sticking.
Sweet Potato Smash Cake
If you’re looking for a smash cake for the kids, this sweet potato cake is great since it’s 6 inches and super soft and easy to smash. It also is a nice blend of nutritious ingredients in a really festive form.
It has a lightly sweet flavor, so it’s perfect for babies turning 1. And the cream cheese frosting simply needs to be stirred together and spread on. Nothing fussy there!
Other Smash Cakes You Might Like
You can also check out my:
Can I make this first birthday cake ahead of time?
Yes! You can make the cakes a day ahead, let cool, and store in airtight containers at room temperature. You can even frost the whole thing and wrap carefully with plastic wrap and store in the fridge up to 24 hours ahead.
It can be hard to wrap it tightly without messing up the frosting, so I usually wait to frost it, but if you have a cake carrier, that could work, too!
How to Store
Store leftovers in the fridge once frosted for up to 3-5 days in an airtight container or wrapped with plastic.
Best Tips for Success
- Top with sprinkles if desired. These naturally colored ones are pretty!
- The cake can be made 24 hours before you plan to frost it. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container at room temperature. (It’s also fine to frost it the day before if you can carefully wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the fridge to keep it fresh.)
- Use as a smash cake for a baby or to share with the whole family
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour.
- Egg-free: Increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon, omit the egg, and add 2 tablespoons milk.
- The whole wheat pastry flour will create a slightly denser cake.
- The batter makes 24 mini cupcakes, using about 1 tablespoon batter in each and baking for 12-14 minutes.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this cake if you make it, so please rate and comment below!
Sweet Potato Baby Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Cake
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato puree
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened at room temperature for at least an hour—it should be soft when you poke it with your finger)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two and line with a round of parchment paper cut to fit the inside of each pan. (Use the pan to trace the pan onto the paper, then cut out just inside the line.) Coat the top of the paper with nonstick spray, too.
- Whisk together the sweet potato, oil, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to just combine.
- Divide the batter among the prepared pans, using about a heaping cup in each. Smooth to spread the batter evenly.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then gently invert onto a wire rack to remove from pans and cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- Add the cream cheese to a medium bowl with maple syrup and vanilla extract. Mix together with a whisk until fluffy. (If this is hard to do due to the temperature of your cream cheese, you can use an electric handheld mixer.)
To assemble the cake:
- Place one cake on a cake stand or plate.
- Spread about half of the frosting on top of one cake, add the second, then top with the remaining frosting, spreading smooth.
- Add sprinkles if desired.
Video
Notes
- Top with sprinkles if desired. These naturally colored ones are pretty!
- The cake can be made 24 hours before you plan to frost it. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container at room temperature. (It’s also fine to frost it the day before if you can carefully wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the fridge to keep it fresh.)
- Store leftovers in the fridge once frosted for up to 3-5 days in an airtight container or wrapped with plastic.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour.
- Egg-free: Increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon, omit the egg, and add 2 tablespoons milk.
- The whole wheat pastry flour will create a slightly denser cake.
- The batter makes 24 mini cupcakes, using about 1 tablespoon batter in each and baking for 12-14 minutes.
Nutrition
This post was originally published May 2015.
Hi ,can the cake be frozen for a day or two and then frosted?
Sure, just let it thaw at room temperature first and wrap it well when you freeze it.
Thank you for this recipe! My husband doesn’t like a lot of sweets (particularly for health reasons) but I wanted to make something special for his birthday anyway. This was incredibly easy AND delicious. It didn’t leave us with unwanted sugar headaches either. My only questions are as follows: 1) If my frosting was harder to spread (had to use my fingers), does that mean I probably should have used the handheld mixer longer or maybe set out the cream cheese longer? 2) How do you get the cakes evenly flat? I used the exact same cake pans but the tops were rounded. Should I have shaved off the top of the bottom layer to stack them better? Appreciate your help! Thank you!
Oh and I topped the cake with pomegranate seeds (since I had them on hand instead of sprinkles) and the burst of sweetness was delicious!
That must have been so pretty too!
I think that the cream cheese likely needed a little longer at room temperature. And I would just do your best spreading the batter even on the cakes, especially towards the edges so there isn’t more batter in the middle thickness-wise, but it’s also okay if they are a tiny bit rounded. Glad it went well otherwise!
Hi,
What size of egg should I use? Here in UK we get medium and large size of eggs.
Large eggs
Hi love your recipe and would love to make it egg free, any recommendations for substitute.
Hi- There’s an egg-free option in the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for you.
I’m making this for my sons 2nd bday this weekend! Can the frosting be made and refrigerated ahead of time? And maybe left to ge to room temp for frosting? Or best to make just before frosting the cake? Also, do you know how many regular cupcakes this would make and how long to bake them for, appx? Sorry! Im not much of a cook/baker!
Yes, you can make the frosting ahead of time, just store it in an airtight container or a zip top bag. I believe this should make 12 cupcakes and that they should take in the 14-18 minute range to bake. (I haven’t tested them that way, but I’m making an educated guess based on another recipe with similar proportions.) I hope you have a happy time celebrating!
This is a wonderful recipe, thank you so much. I never comment on food blogs, but this is worth it. I’d eat this on any occasion. I made it for my one year olds birthday today, my older toddler helped, and with gluten free self raising. This made it a little denser but it was moist and just right for little gums.
Thanks!
I am so glad and happy birthday to your kiddo!!
Hi Amy!
I am having a bit of trouble with this recipe. I have madr it twice as a trial for little one’s birthday and the cake always turns out too “pancake type”, no spring to it with and resembling the texture of an omelette. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? This really is the cake we wanted!
Hi- I would check the freshness of your baking soda and consider trying a fresh box. That would be the most likely explanation. I hope that helps!
I’m looking forward to trying this out for my son’s first birthday this weekend. He really loves Japanese sweet potatoes and I often make him puree out of those. Do you think these would work instead of regular sweet potatoes?
I haven’t tried them so I can’t say for sure, but I think they might be a little bit less moist? Otherwise, they should work the same!
If I blended the sweet potato would that be too watery ?
I’m not sure what you mean? The sweet potato needs to be blended smooth before you add it to the cake.
I think the confusion was because the recipe says “mashed” (but also purée).
You can blended in a blender or food processor or just mash it smooth with a fork. Either one will work as long as you don’t add a lot of liquid to either option.
Hi, the cake looks great and I hope to try the recipe as is, however, do you think the sweet potato pure could he subbed for baby food puree? Or another puree like thick applesauce?
Hi- I know this works with pumpkin puree and I suspect others would work too as long as they are thick and not too watery. So there might be some variation between baby foods and applesauces—the thicker the better!
My 2 year old helped me make it, it was easy and very delicious!
I’m so glad!
I’m going to attempt this recipe to make two 4” smash cakes for my twins’ first birthday. Any thoughts on how long I should bake for and how full to fill the pans?
Hi! I can’t say for sure on the timing since I haven’t tested it in that size, but I would aim to fill each pan half full and bake in the 10-14 minute range. Let me know how it goes and happy almost birthday to your twins!
Thank you! I ended up baking the 4” rounds (stainless steel) for probably close to 25 min, but I think my oven temp may be off so somebody else might not need so long. That made two 4” double tier cakes. We also made a second batch of batter and used it for 12 cupcakes (for mom, dad, and big brother to join in the fun). One batch of frosting was just enough for both cakes and the cupcakes. It was so tasty!
Can I substitute maple syrup with something else or just not include it?
I think honey would be fine but I haven’t tried it with anything else so I can’t say for sure. If you omit the sweetener, it won’t be very sweet. Honestly, it’s not a very sweet cake even with it so I would consider including it if you have maple syrup or honey!
Hi Amy.
Thanks for your recipe. Can I relate all purpose flour to oat flour ?
I haven’t tried it with oat flour so I can’t say for sure. I don’t usually recommend swapping it directly but some would likely be okay.
Do you think this recipe could work with cupcakes?
I think it would, though I’ve never tried it so I can’t say definitively if the baking time would change. I would fill the cups 3/4 full and start checking for doneness, looking for a cake tester to come out clean when inserted into the center, at 20 minutes. They should bake in about the same amount of time as the 8-inch cakes, though go by the cake tester to be sure. (But it’s a good idea and I’m going to have to try them as cupcakes soon!)