The Best Sweet Potato Cake is Entirely Gluten-Free

Got sweet potatoes? Then why make pie when you can have cake? And why not also ditch the all-purpose flour for something more interesting?

As it happens, a combination of rice and oat flours makes the world’s best carrot cake—really—so why shouldn’t the same combo of flours and spices make an amazing sweet potato cake?

The question was answered when Flavor Flours co-author, Maya Klein, came up with the following encore to her already amazing carrot cake. You may never use wheat flour again for either cake agaim—I know I won’t.  

Jewel or garnet yams work well in this recipe, but there is no reason not to try it with the paler-fleshed sweet potatoes, I just haven’t gotten around to it. I might try pumpkin or squash next, or maybe parsnips. I believe in making a good recipe work as hard and produce as much pleasure as possible.  

If you're intrigued with the rice flour oat flour combination, there are plenty more recipes that use it in Flavor Flours, including a not-to-be-missed and indispensible chocolate fudge cake. 

Sweet Potato Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

From Flavor Flours (Artisan 2014)

Serves 12

For the cake:

1 1/4 cups flavorless vegetable oil (such as soybean, corn, or safflower)
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (240 grams) white rice flour or 2 1/3 cups (240 grams) Thai white rice flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 grams) oat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups (340 grams) lightly packed peeled and shredded sweet potatoes
1 cup (100 grams) coarsely chopped walnuts

For the cream cheese frosting:

8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese
8 tablespoons (1 stick/115 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups (170 grams) confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by James Ransom