Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake

Well, I am my mother’s child, and I have the strongest affinity for sock it to me anything. I also have an incredible affinity for any cake involving sweet potatoes. Several months ago, I wondered aloud what would happen if I “married” sweet potato cake and sock it to me cake, and this Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake is the exceptional result to that wondering.

In this Post:

About this Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake

I positively must tell you about the absolutely enchanting aroma that fills your kitchen when this Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake is in the oven. You know those perfect fall afternoons at grandma’s house, when the warmth from her oven wrapped around you like a cozy blanket? That’s exactly what this cake brings to life. First comes that beautiful butter-sweet scent that’s the hallmark of every beloved Southern pound cake. Then, almost miraculously, warm waves of cinnamon start weaving through your kitchen, followed by the most incredible caramel-maple notes that make time slow down just a little bit. It’s the kind of smell that draws everyone to the kitchen, that makes little ones peer through the oven window, and that brings back memories of fall baking with people you love. 🍁

And the flavor? My goodness! Each bite is like a warm hug in your tummy. The cake itself is everything a Southern pound cake should be – that pleasantly plump, deliciously moist, tender crumb that creates a reverant *hush* in the din of large Sunday dinners and family gatherings. Your first taste brings the natural sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes (the way grandma would have made them!), followed by gentle whispers of warm cinnamon. Then comes that beautiful moment when you discover how the sweet potatoes’ subtle maple notes blend with the real maple syrup we’ve added – it creates this heavenly caramel-like sweetness that feels like autumn sunshine. The cinnamon streusel? Those perfect little pockets of extra sweetness are like finding beautifully textured, treasured surprises in every slice. This isn’t just another fall cake, sweet friends – it’s the kind that makes you close your eyes, smile, and remember all the best parts of coming home. ✨

Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake: Recipe at a Glance

⏰ Prep Time: 60 minutes

• 15 minutes for mise en place (getting all ingredients measured and ready, friends!)
• 15 minutes for streusel
• 30 minutes for batter

🔥 Bake Time: 70-80 minutes

🕒 Total Time: 5-7 hours

• Time is an ingredient in this recipe, friends! Those delicious flavors need time to develop and settle.

👥 Servings: 18 beautiful slices

📏 Pan Size: 12 or 15-cup bundt pan

Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Storage Tips:

• Room Temperature: Up to 3 days in an airtight container
• Refrigerated: Up to 5 days
• Freezer: Unglazed cake can be wrapped well and frozen for up to 2 months (not recommended after glazing)

Key Features of this Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake:

• Moist sweet potato cake
• Cinnamon streusel swirl
• Cinnamon cream cheese glaze
• Made with real maple syrup

Special Equipment that will help you knock their “socks” off:

• Stand or hand mixer
• Digital kitchen scale (I can’t emphasize this enough, friends! For truly consistent results every single time, a digital scale and metric measurements are absolutely essential. This is why you’ll always see me list metric measurements first!)
• Instant-read thermometer

Ingredients in the Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake

BBs! What time is it? It’s time to have some fun with baking science! ⏰ 🤩 Each ingredient in our Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake is carefully selected to be meaningful and delicious in the final result. Understanding what the ingredients do will help you become a more confident baker, and knowing the ‘why’ behind each component makes troubleshooting so much easier if something goes sideways!

All-purpose flour is the backbone of our cake, creating the structure that holds everything together. When flour mixes with liquid ingredients, the proteins in that flour form gluten networks that give the cake its signature tender crumb. I specifically chose all-purpose flour over cake flour for this recipe because it gives us that classic, pleasantly plump texture that makes Southern pound cakes so special – cake flour would give us a lighter, more delicate crumb that’s lovely for layer cakes but just isn’t what we’re after in a proper Southern pound cake, honey!

Baking soda is the important leavening in this cake, working with the natural acids in sweet potatoes and maple syrup to create tiny air bubbles that help our cake rise. Without it, we’d end up with a dense, flat cake (and literally nobody wants that!). (Want to learn more about leavening? Click here to learn about the difference between baking powder and baking soda, and why substituting one for the other is a very bad idea!)

Kosher salt plays a crucial role in our cake, enhancing the natural sweet potato flavor while balancing the sweetness from our sugar and maple syrup. It also helps our cake develop that beautifully golden crust we all love in a perfect pound cake.

Ground cinnamon brings warmth and complexity to our cake, working especially well with the sweet potatoes to create that cozy fall feeling we’re after.

Butter is doing triple duty here – it’s tenderizing the protein molecules in the flour of our cake, adding moisture, and creating tiny air pockets when we cream it with sugar (check out that real-world application of physics!). These air pockets are crucial for achieving that perfect pound cake texture we all love!

Granulated sugar isn’t just for sweetness – it’s actually a tenderizer that helps preventing too much gluten development (lots of gluten development is appropriate for bread, but not for lovely pound cakes). When we cream it with butter, it also helps create structure by incorporating air into our batter.

Eggs are the ultimate team players, bringing structure, richness, and moisture to our cake. The proteins in eggs coagulate during baking to help our cake set, while the fats in the yolks add that incredible richness we expect in a pound cake. Eggs are the perfect contradiction, all in one shell. ❤️ 🥚

Vanilla bean (or extract) might seem simple, but it’s actually working overtime to enhance all the other flavors in our cake. Think of vanilla as the conductor of our flavor orchestra, making sure everything plays together beautifully!

Sweet potatoes are the star of our show, bringing natural sweetness and incredible moisture to our cake. They add a gorgeous signature color, plus they have their own subtle maple notes that we’re about to make even more magical – talk about a multitasking ingredient!

Maple syrup isn’t just here for sweetness – it’s adding depth and complexity to our flavor profile while also helping to keep our cake beautifully moist. Real maple syrup amplifies those natural maple notes in our sweet potatoes and creates caramel-like flavors when baked, making our cake even more irresistible.

Techniques for the Best Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake

Sock it to Me Cake is such a wonderful addition to a home baker’s recipe book. But there are some fundamental baking techniques that make all the difference when you’re trying to make this one incredibly special.

Take a look at the resources, below. They cover so many fun techniques that will take your baking to the next level, and will allow your confidence to soar to new heights!

• My Favorite Bundt Pans
• My Holiday Baking Success Secrets
• Sifting: Quick Technique, Huge Impact
• Meet Your Kitchen BFF–Your Digital Kitchen Scale!
• Technique Tips for the Best Pound Cakes
• How to Cream Butter and Sugar (With New Video!)
• Baking 101: How to Measure Ingredients
• The Role of Eggs in Your Baked Goods
• How to Grease a Bundt Pan
• The Science of Sugar
• The Best Tools for Perfect Pound Cakes
• Knowing When to Stop a Technique
• Begin with Butter Home Baking Academy | Perfect Pound Cakes Class!

These resources are super helpful to help you build consistency and confidence on your baking journey. Happy reading!

Need equipment? Not sure if you have everything that you need to make this amazing cake? No worries! I’ve got you covered there too!

Important Tools

I’ve said it a thousand times, Friend: you don’t need a ton of expensive equipment to have a well-stocked baking kitchen. You just need some fundamental tools that will help you achieve (and keep) proficiency; tools that can withstand the test of time.

If you’re interested in the tools that I use to make absolutely delicious and irresistible pound cakes, check out the My Essentials for Perfect Pound Cakes link in my Amazon Storefront!

I do get paid a commission when you purchase, but these are the tools that I use all the time in my own kitchen.

If you have these tools already, great! Think of this as a checklist to help you build the confidence that you’ll need to execute this cake!

• Taylor Oven Thermometer
• ThermoWorks Square Dot Thermometer
• Ozeri Pronto Digital Food Scale
• OXO Digital Food Scale
• KitchenAid Hand Mixer
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer 
• Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set
• Deli Containers for Prep
• Spouted Measuring Cup for Glaze
• OXO Spatula Set
• Sifter
• My Absolute Favorite Pound Cake Pans

Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake

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This Sweet Potato Sock it to Me Cake is everything you love in the classic dessert: deeply aromatic, with comforting spices and a big punch of vanilla, and lovely textural crunch from the streusel inside. Want nuts? You can add them! Allergic (like me)? This version doesn’t need them in order to be completely spectacular!

• Total Time: 5-7 hours
• Yield: 18 servings 1x

Ingredients

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For the Cinnamon Streusel Filling:

• 50 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 32 grams (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 57 grams (1/4 cup) butter, cold
• 55 grams (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped (optional)

For the Batter:

• 384 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 227 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 450 grams (2 3/4 cups) granulated sugar
• 6 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 425 grams boiled sweet potatoes (the flesh of about 2 large sweet potatoes, or one can of sweet potato puree (not sweet potato pie filling)
• 3 tablespoons real maple syrup

For the Vanilla Simple Syrup:

• 84 grams (1/3 cup) water
• 67 grams (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze:

• 154 grams (2/3 cup) cream cheese, room temperature
• 240 grams (2 cups) confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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Instructions

To Make the Cinnamon Streusel Filling:

1. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, fine sea salt, and chopped pecans (if using) to a medium bowl.  Stir to combine.
2. Cut the cold butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and add to the sugar mixture.  Use fingers or a pastry cutter to break up the butter pieces until they are no smaller than a pea.
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To Make the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  
2. Sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
3. Combine the sweet potato puree and the maple syrup in a medium bowl or deli cup. Stir to combine and set aside.
4. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut the vanilla bean pod lengthwise. Use the knife to scrape the vanilla beans from the pod.
5. Place the granulated sugar in another medium bowl. Add the vanilla beans and massage the beans into the sugar. Alternatively, you can add the sugar to a deli cup, add the vanilla beans to the sugar, securely place the lid on the deli cup, and shake to your heart’s content! For an extra bit of vanilla flavor, you can place the empty vanilla bean pod in the sweet potato mixture until you’re ready to add the mixture to the batter.
6. Add the room-temperature butter to the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.  Mix with your hand mixer or stand mixer until the butter is completely smooth.
7. Add the sugar mixture and cream until the butter and sugar are light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
8. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each egg until completely incorporated.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
9. If using pure vanilla extract, add the vanilla extract and mix thoroughly. (If using vanilla beans, you can omit this step.)
10. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
11. Remove the vanilla bean pod from the sweet potato mixture. Add all of the sweet potato mixture and mix until just combined.
12. Add the second half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter several times to ensure everything is incorporated.
13. Prep a 12- or 15-cup bundt pan as you normally would. 
14.  Add half of the batter, then make a “moat” in the batter for the streusel mixture. Place as much of the streusel mixture in the moat as you’d like; there will be some that comes out of the moat, and this is okay.  Use a toothpick or a small spoon handle to gently swirl the streusel mixture into the batter.
15. Add the second half of the batter over the top of the first.
16. Bake for 70-80 minutes in a true 325°F oven, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 212°F-215°F.  
17. Allow to cool on a wire rack for ten minutes, then invert the cake and remove from the pan.

To Make the Vanilla Simple Syrup:

1. Add the water, granulated sugar, and fine sea salt to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil just until all of the solids are dissolved. Remove from the heat.
2. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.
3. Allow the simple syrup and the cake to cool completely, then brush the simple syrup on to the completely cooled cake.

To Make the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze:

1. Place the room temperature cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix until completely smooth.
2. Add the confectioner’s sugar, fine sea salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and 1 ½ tablespoons of whole milk. Using a small whisk, stir to combine. Do not be fooled into adding additional ingredients too quickly! The more you stir, the more the glaze will come together.
3. If absolutely necessary, add up to two more teaspoons of whole milk, ½ teaspoon at a time. Stir until the glaze has the consistency of thick honey.
4. Using a spouted measuring cup, squeeze bottle, or spoon, pour the glaze over the completely cooled cake. If desired, top with decorating sugar.
5. Enjoy!

Equipment

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Notes

• This cake can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to three days, but I prefer to store it in the refrigerator for up to five days.
• Perfect additions for this cake: The Easiest Whipped Cream and No-Churn Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

• Author: Shani
• Prep Time: 60 minutes
• Cook Time: 70-80 minutes
• Category: Dessert

Frequently Asked Questions

This Marrying Cake Marriage is Built to Last

I had an incredible time playing with this cake. From concept to execution, this one made me smile a thousand times. I hope it truly makes you smile as you prepare it for your special tables. 

Got questions about the recipe? Reach out to me and let’s chat! You can reach me at bakingbestie@beginwithbutter.com, and I love your questions!

Did you make this cake? Make sure to tag me on Instagram @beginwithbutter so that I can share your success with the rest of our wonderful community!

Enjoy!