Strange ingredients in cakes! I am considering sweet potato . . .

[nellypope]

I have heard of beetroot in chocolate cake, but the other day, after roasting some sweet potatoes, it struck me how good they may taste in a fruit cake. Would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this!

Either it's a new taste sensation . . . or I'm pregnant!

[Old_Geezer]

Go for it. Never discover anything if you don't take a risk :-) But make it a small cake at first.

[champipple]

Cant see why not,i have seen parsnips used,and tried lavender shortbread..

[JackDanielsU]

I made a tomato soup one...and it was bloody lovely...really moist

[JackDanielsU]

Oh and Im trying a dandelion and burdock one soon....its on the bbc site today

[woofgang]

Its worth a try. during the war...... sweet root veg were used in cakes to eke out the fat and sugar the veg made the cakes both moister and sweeter but they didn't keep so well.

[lidlicker]

I once tried baking a 'gluten-free' cake for a friend, using mashed potato instead of flour. It was OK, but prefer flour !

[louella]

Sweet potatoes are commonly used in the Southern US to make pies and puddings, they're also used in the Carribean particularly Jamaica. If you do an on-line search or look at any american cookery web site you'll find loads of recipes. This is one of my favourite pudding recipes. A similar mix is also used as the filling for a sweet potatoe pie, using a sweet shortcrust pie case.

Sweet potatoes....2 large,cooked then mashed
Eggs...2..seperated
Butter ....2oz
Light brown sugar...3oz
Milk ....4oz...approx
Salt....1/2 tspn
Cinnamon....1/2 tspn
Nutmeg....1/4 tspn
Ginger....large pinch

Cream the butter and sugar then add the beaten egg yolks and spices, then add the mashed potatoes and enough milk to give a soft, but not wet, mix.
Beat the egg whites till stiff and fold into the mix.
Pour into a buttered casserole dish and bake at 180C for about 35-40mins. Serve hot with cream or ice-cream.

[NoMercy]

The Americans make pumpkin pie, so why not.

You get carrot cake, and I've even got a recipe somewhere which calls for grated parsnip a cake.