Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Sweet potato "cake" may sound a bit weird, but it's really not. It tastes a lot like a pumpkin cake and the sweet potato flavor is rather subdued. The recipe calls for coconut and pecans which are two of my favorite ingredients. I used leftover potatoes that I had grilled and they worked perfectly, but I imagine that you could use canned yams as well.

The recipe is from The Church Ladies' Divine Desserts by Brenda Rhodes Miller. This is a neat cookbook with lots of old-fashioned sweets and easy recipes that feed a lot of people. I checked the book out from our library, but I like it so much I'm going to buy a copy. There are some really nice cake recipes, and lots of things like cobblers and bar cookies.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 1/2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs.)

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the butter in a large bowl. Add the sugar gradually, beating well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sweet potatoes, beating well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Add the flour gradually, beating well after each addition. The batter will be stiff. Stir in the vanilla, coconut, and pecans. Spoon the batter into a well-greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.