Japanese Sweet Potato Cake

>> Saturday, November 20, 2010


(Some of the rather random) Things I love about Mother:
 
1. She taught me that money doesn't fall from trees
By paying me 20 cents for every hour of my massage services back in the days.
 
2. She also taught me patience and understanding
By telling me why I shouldn't sulk when I was the last to get picked up from school.
 
3. She is willing to sacrifice her time on me
By sitting through hours and hours of my squeaky violin and horrific piano playing. I don't know how she did it. No wonder she had headaches often.
 
4. She defies some Asian mother stereotype
By always saying...
"Viv, if you keep on studying, I'm going to be very angry. Go to sleep" (*switches off light*)
"Oh, you're home already from the party? So early?"
(Maybe there was some reverse psychology in play there).

 
5. She pushes me to do things I don't want to do
By giving me a Chinese Bible and telling me write out everything in it during my summer holiday. (No, I never made it through to the end though).
 
6. She ignited my passion for numbers
I don't know where she got stacks of mathematical worksheets from but I used to spend hours a day doing endless equations and ended up falling in love with maths.
 
7. She is an extremely generous person and unpretentious.
You'd agree if you know her.

8. She doesn't get mad easily
Not once did she tell me off when I let my mouse Flynn poop everywhere and my rabbit Gloria eat through our set of encyclopedia. Or when I decided to keep flies and spiders as pets. I'd totally freak if my own kids do that. 

9. She taught me the basic skills in the kitchen
For as long as I can remember, I had always stood next to her washing and chopping at her every commands.
 
10. She is the #1 fan of this blog yet she will deny it if you ask her.


I hesitated about sharing this post because the photos are awkward and rushed. But I must, because today is Mother's birthday and her ultimate favourite food is sweet potatoes. Japanese sweet potatoes to be precise. And since she's not here with me, all I can do is bake her favourite cake and tell her how deliciously simple this cake is while I eat it in front of her on Skype. And that every bite of this cake is like a mouthful of super silky smooth sweet potato which can only make every sweet potato fan deliriously happy.

Happy birthday Mother. I heart you so much.


Japanese Sweet Potato Cake
Adapted from Masa

  • 300g sweet potato (with purple skin)
  • 160ml milk or cream (I used milk)
  • 40g sugar (I used brown)
  • 2 eggs
  • 30g all purpose flour
  • cake tin (15-18cm)

Preheat the oven to 170C.

1. Butter the baking tin and dust with flour. Remove excess.

2. Steam the sweet potato until cooked, and remove the skin.

3. Put the sweet potato in a blender and mix until smooth (I don't have a blender so used a potato masher!)

4. Place the sweet potato puree in a bowl and add the milk or cream, mix together.

5. Add sugar into the mixture then the eggs. Combine well with a whisk.

6. Add the sieved flour and mix until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the cake tin.

7. Bake the cake for around 40-50 minutes at 170C. At around the 40 minutes mark, check if it is cooked by inserting a chopstick/stick into the cake and if the stick comes out clean, it is cooked. Otherwise, leave it in the oven longer.

8. Once out of the oven, leave on the tray and wait until cool. Better yet, put it in the fridge after it has cooled down to further set.

Note: Remember not to eat straight away (as hard as it is!) as it is easier to cut into the cake once it has cooled down and set, as there are very little flour in the cake.

21 comments:

kirbie November 20, 2010 at 9:04 AM  

I love japanese sweet potatoes! I can't wait to try out this cake. Wow, your mom really doesn't fit the stereotypes. That's pretty cool.

j3ss kitch3n November 20, 2010 at 11:59 AM  

lovely cake and happy birthday to your mum viv!

grub November 20, 2010 at 10:10 PM  

hahaha you're a big fan of MASA's aren't you ;D omg whered did you find those Japanese sweet potatoes? i can't seem to find them anywhere except frozen from Vietnam D:

happy birthday to your mother :D

Joanne November 20, 2010 at 11:20 PM  

Aww this is so unbelievably sweet! Our mothers sound very similar. Are you sure we aren't related?

This sweet potato cake is something that I would love for my birthday as well. I shall be making it. And then you can watch ME eat it on skyp :P

Deborah November 21, 2010 at 7:38 AM  

Your mother sounds like such a lovely person - and what a gorgeous cake to make for her! I hope she has a wonderful day.

Anonymous,  November 21, 2010 at 3:08 PM  

A lovely tribute to your mum, I really enjoyed reading it! I love sweet potato, might have to try that one. thanks for sharing about your mum.

Jeannie November 21, 2010 at 3:36 PM  

I love sweet potatoes too and this cake really looked yummy! Bet your mom would love it too!

Viv November 21, 2010 at 10:15 PM  

kirbie: Haha no she doesn't fit the stereotype for sure! haha yes, if you like sweet potato you will love this.

j3sskitch3n: thank you girl!

grub: hehe, its one of the 2 cookbooks i have here with me thats why! the other one (masterchef gary/george's) requires too many hard to obtain ingredients and too fancy for one! i got the sweet potato from South Melb market! Hmm but i rem seeing them around elsewhere!

Joanne: Good luck with making it :) well haha thats how i feel when i browse through your blog and look at ALL these amazing recipes...esp late at night when im super hungry!

Deborah: Hehe thank you! It is indeed making someone a cake when that person isn't there to eat it. lol

deb: thank you!! :)

Jeannie: Yeah it is yummy...the photos don't do it justice tho!

megan November 23, 2010 at 2:11 AM  

What a sweet testament to your mother :) Your list made me smile!

Jen November 23, 2010 at 5:39 PM  

Awwww, such a sweet sweet post! Happy birthday to your mother! x

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart November 23, 2010 at 11:59 PM  

aww, what a sweet tribute to your mom for her birthday! I am sure your biggest blog fan is very proud of you and was happy you made her a dessert using her favorite food.

I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes but haven't tried the purple ones. Your cake didn't turn out a dark orange-ish color so I am thinking they are light inside. Looks so tempting!

Always a treat stopping by to visit with you!

Amy @ cookbookmaniac November 24, 2010 at 12:44 AM  

you made me giggle. i totally understand where you are coming from with every description of your dear mother. aww. she is very special for making you write out the chinese bible. hehe. my mum made me go buy her groceries at the ripe old age of 8, because she was too busy to go buy it herself. I don't think she realised what kind of a greedy child she was raising.

Maria November 24, 2010 at 4:58 AM  

This cake looks great Viv! And by the sounds of it mums are the same everywhere in the world ;-)

Zoe November 25, 2010 at 12:24 PM  

That's very sweet of you to show lots of appreciations to your mum. Happy birthday to your mum :D

Joyti November 27, 2010 at 7:26 AM  

What a delightful treat for your mummy. She sounds like a very special person.

SK November 30, 2010 at 5:05 PM  

Sweet potato cake!!
Man that looks amazing. :)
Great recipe.

OOzioozi October 9, 2011 at 7:59 AM  

...made a cake inspired by yours, thanks girl!
...http://oozioozi.blogspot.com/2011/10/sweet-potato-cake.html

Anonymous,  May 13, 2012 at 11:52 PM  

Made your sweet potato cake for my mum today for mothers day. The cake was nice but kinda eggy. So, I'll probably substitute the 2 eggs for 2 egg whites or just use 1 egg next time. :)

Daniela @ FoodRecipesHQ July 27, 2012 at 12:53 AM  

I really needed a recipe sweet-potato based. This seems to be a good not to fatty dessert, thanks sharing the recipe!

pakistani designer suits boutique uk December 12, 2020 at 5:35 PM  

Your mother sounds like such a lovely person - and what a gorgeous cake to make for her! I hope she has a wonderful day.

Yhe Cristy February 8, 2023 at 8:24 AM  

Found you via Pinterest. This has become a weekly meal in our house. thanks for the recipe.

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