Today I've got a delicate, pretty no-bake purple sweet potato cake for you that brings both vibrancy and secretly-snuck-in-veg to the dessert table...
This vegan cheesecake-style cake incorporates purple sweet potato powder (ube), which is an easy way to add nutrition to sweets without overwhelming the delicate cheesecake flavor, as well as imparting a lovely purple hue.
I decorated it with some crunchy almonds and edible fresh flowers from my garden — borage and sweet alyssum. They complement the colors here really nicely.
Fresh flowers, especially edible ones, are one of my favorite ways to decorate a cake. It's just so easy, and nature does the work for you here :).
I find it's best to place the fresh flowers on the cake right prior to serving to keep them crisp and bright. You can freeze any leftover cake with the flowers afterwards of course, but they look best served fresh.
And of course if you don't have fresh flowers handy, you can always just use more dried edible flower petals instead, or any other complementary toppings of your choice.
Last but not least, this recipe is for a tiny 5″ cake tailored for a power blender with a narrow pitcher at the bottom, which can handle a smaller volume of ingredients really well (like an older tall profile Vitamix, which is what I use).
If you’re using a wide bottomed blender, you’ll need to at least triple the recipe for best results. See the downloadable cake conversion guide below the recipe to help you figure out which pan size to use.
Purple Sweet Potato Cake
A pretty no-bake purple sweet potato cake, brimming with vibrancy, flavor, and snuck in veg!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5" mini cake
- Category: Cake
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Crust:
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 2 soft medjool dates, pitted
- ½ tbsp coconut oil, softened*
Filling:
- ¾ cup raw cashews, pre-soaked and strained**
- 5 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, softened
- 1 tbsp purple sweet potato powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅜ tsp salt
Toppings:
- 1-2 tablespoon slivered almonds
- a sprinkling of edible dried blue cornflower petals
- optional: fresh borage flowers and sweet alyssum flowers
Instructions
* Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before starting *
- Process all crust ingredients into a fine sticky crumble in a food processor. Transfer into a 5″ springform pan and press down into a flat crust along the base. Freeze while working on the next step.
- Blend all cheesecake filling ingredients together into a completely smooth consistency in a power blender. Transfer this mixture into the prepared cake pan over the crust. Tap the pan down on the counter to smooth out the top, and even it out further with the back of a spoon as needed.
- Sprinkle slivered almonds, and then dried flower petals in a ring around the top of the cake.
- Freeze for 5-6 hours or overnight to set.
- Once set, remove from the springform ring. Decorate with fresh borage flowers if desired. Thaw out lightly on the counter (10-15 minutes) and serve!***
Notes
*I recommend a de-scented / refined coconut oil to avoid a strong coconut flavor / aroma.
**To pre-soak nuts: place in a glass bowl, cover with water, and leave to soak for 4 hours (or overnight in the fridge). Then strain and discard the water. For a quick pre-soak, cover with boiled water and soak for 15 mins, then strain and discard water. (Note: this technique doesn’t preserve the nutrition of the recipe as well as the traditional soaking technique above). Additional Note: the purpose of soaking the nuts is to re-hydrate them and plump them up for blending into a smooth, cheesecake-like consistency. Proper soaking techniques also maximize nutrition and digestibility. If you’re interested in learning more about nut soaking and other dessert prep tips and tricks, I delve into these subjects in detail in my book Unconventional Treats.
***Storage notes: treat this cake like ice cream. Keep it frozen at all times until ready to eat, and freeze any leftovers. If left too long at room temperature it will begin to melt back into the consistency it was in the blender.
Cristina M says
This recipe sounds amazing! Can I just use regular whole almonds for the crust instead? Is there any reason for the slivered version instead?
Audrey says
Hi Cristina, good question! Honestly I felt like using slivered almonds for the top, and didn't want to buy two different kinds of almonds / other nuts for the crust, so used slivered for both. However, you can use regular almonds for both as well (I'd just chop them up for the topping portion), or even another nut if you prefer (keeping in mind some nuts are stronger-flavored, whereas almonds are a bit more neutral / mild).