Divine 1-Step Sweet Potato Pound Cake Joy

Oh, friend, if you’re chasing that true taste of Southern comfort food, you’ve landed in the right spot. For me, nothing says ‘home’ quite like a slice of perfectly baked sweet potato pound cake. It reminds me that truly soul-satisfying food doesn’t need to be complicated; it just needs heart and good ingredients. Forget those dry, crumbly versions you might have tried before. We are aiming for ultra-moist and tender here, topped with a tangy cream cheese glaze that cuts through the richness just perfectly. Trust me, mastering this is easier than you think, and it’s about to become your absolute favorite holiday bake. To see more about my own kitchen journey, you can always check out my simple food philosophy here.

Why This Is the Best Sweet Potato Pound Cake Recipe You Will Make

I know, I know, everyone claims their recipe is the “best,” but stick with me here. This sweet potato pound cake avoids the common pitfalls. It turns out rich, dense, and unbelievably flavorful every single time. It’s truly the perfect comfort food baking staple.

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• Stands up beautifully for slicing and decorating.
• Delivers classic holiday flavor without tasting heavy.
• It’s incredibly hard to mess up if you stick to the creaming step!

Achieving that Ultra-Moist Pound Cake Texture

The secret to avoiding dry cake lies in two places: using real, mashed sweet potato puree, and making sure you properly cream your butter and sugar first. That creaming builds the initial structure, trapping air that keeps the final product a truly moist pound cake instead of a brick!

Warm Spices and Sweet Potato Flavor Profile

We lean hard into that comforting autumn vibe here. The cinnamon and nutmeg aren’t just background notes; they wake up the natural earthiness of the sweet potatoes. It transitions this from a simple cake to a full-blown Southern dessert experience.

Gathering Ingredients for Your Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Alright, let’s get organized! Since this is a true From Scratch Cake, getting your tools and ingredients prepped is half the battle won. I always lay everything out on the counter before I even turn the mixer on—it keeps me calm and stops me from forgetting that pinch of salt! We want flawless texture, so paying attention to the state of your butter and cream cheese is non-negotiable.

If you’re planning on sticking around for breakfast later, you might also check out some of my favorite tips for what goes great on sweet potatoes when they aren’t baked into a cake form, like these sweet potato toast toppings!

For the Tender Crumb Cake Batter

When you gather these items, make sure that butter is truly softened—not melted, just ready to go when you press it. You’ll need:

• One full cup of sweet potato puree, cooked and mashed until smooth.
• One cup of unsalted butter, which absolutely must be softened.
• Two cups of standard granulated sugar.
• Four large eggs, coming up to room temperature helps them incorporate better!
• Three cups of all-purpose flour.
• For lift: one teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda, plus half a teaspoon of salt.
• The warming spices: one teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of nutmeg.
• One teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

For the Cream Cheese Glaze Cake Topping

This tangy glaze is what takes our already amazing sweet potato pound cake over the top! It provides that perfect little zip to balance the savory sweetness. Just like the cake ingredients, your dairy components need to be soft.

For that glorious drizzle, grab eight ounces of cream cheese, softened, and half a cup of unsalted butter, also softened. Then, you’ll need three cups of powdered sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla, and maybe one or two tablespoons of milk to play with the consistency until it pours just right.

Step-by-Step Instructions for the Sweet Potato Pound Cake Recipe

Okay, deep breaths! Now that we have our beautiful ingredients ready, let’s actually get this sweet potato pound cake into the oven. Baking is all about flow, so we’ll move step-by-step. If you’ve ever made a classic pound cake, this will feel familiar, but the sweet potato adds that gorgeous color and extra staying power. I have a whole post on my favorite easy pound cake techniques if you need a refresher on creaming!

Preparing the Pan and Oven

First things first: we need to get that oven nice and warm. Preheat it to 325 degrees F. Don’t rush this part! We are using a 10-inch tube pan or a standard Bundt pan for this recipe. I cannot stress enough how important pan prep is with dense cakes like this—we want it to slide right out later. Generously grease the entire interior of the pan. Then, dust it lightly with flour, tapping out any excess. This double layer of protection ensures we keep every beautiful ridge intact when we flip it.

Mixing the Batter for a Moist Pound Cake

Time to build that texture! In your big mixing bowl, take that softened butter and the sugar and cream them together. You need to beat them hard until the mixture looks noticeably lighter, almost pale yellow, and fluffy. This trapping of air is what leads to that truly moist pound cake when baked. Once you’ve got that, beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure the previous one is totally mixed in before adding the next. Then, mix in your sweet potato puree and vanilla extract until it’s just incorporated. Don’t worry if it looks a little patchy.

Now, switch to your dry ingredients, which you already whisked together. Add them slowly—in maybe three batches—alternating with the wet ingredients if the recipe calls for it, but here, we add them gradually to the creamed mixture. Mix on low speed! As soon as the last streak of flour disappears, stop the mixer. I mean it, stop! Overmixing develops tough gluten, and we want tenderness, not chewiness.

Baking and Cooling the Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Pour all that gorgeous batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top gently. Pop it into that preheated 325-degree oven. This is going to take a bit. Start checking around 60 minutes, but plan for up to 75 minutes. How do you know when it’s done? The wooden pick test is your friend: stick one right near the center, and it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached—no wet batter allowed!

Resist the urge to try and dump it out right away! Let the cake rest right in the hot pan for a full 15 minutes. This time allows the structure to set up properly. After that rest, carefully invert it onto a wire cooling rack. It needs to cool down completely—I mean bone-cold—before we try to glaze it, otherwise, that beautiful glaze will just melt right into the crumb.

Making and Applying the Cream Cheese Glaze Cake

While the cake is chilling out, let’s whip up that fantastic topping! We need smooth textures here too, so make sure that cream cheese and butter are beautifully soft. Beat them together until they are light and creamy. Slowly start adding in that powdered sugar, mixing as you go so you don’t end up wearing it! Add your vanilla. If the mixture is too thick to drizzle nicely, add milk just a tiny bit at a time—maybe a tablespoon—until you hit that perfect pourable consistency. Once your sweet potato pound cake is totally cool, just drizzle that rich, tangy cream cheese glaze cake topping all over the top and let it drip down the sides. It looks incredible!

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Tips for the Best Sweet Potato Pound Cake Success

We’ve gone through the steps, but sometimes the difference between a good cake and a truly show-stopping one is just one little tweak. Because this is meant to be a top-tier sweet potato pound cake, let’s talk about how to make sure you nail the execution. It’s all about controlling your ingredients and respecting the mixing process. If you’re looking for other foundational baking skills for future recipes, make sure you check out my foolproof guide on making flaky pastry dough, which uses a similar cold-ingredient rule!

Sweet Potato Puree Quality Matters

I need you to promise me something: don’t reach for that can of sweet potato pie filling! That stuff is loaded with extra sugar and spices, and it throws off the balance of our recipe completely. If you want that deep, authentic, earthy sweetness that makes this a genuine Southern Dessert, you’ve got to make your own puree. Just grab a couple of sweet potatoes, bake them until they’re totally soft—you can even boil them if you’re in a rush—and then mash them until they are beautifully smooth. Homemade puree is richer, less wet, and the flavor just sings!

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Preventing a Sticky Glaze Cake

Dealing with a glaze that just won’t set right can be so frustrating after all that hard work! If you find your cream cheese glaze cake topping is looking a little too runny after you add the milk, don’t panic and dump in more powdered sugar—that just makes it taste chalky later. Instead, if it’s too thin, try beating the mixture on medium-high speed for a full two minutes. Sometimes the sugar just needs a little extra whirling to fully hydrate and thicken up. If it’s still too floppy, pop the whole bowl into the fridge for about ten minutes to chill down; the cold fattens it up nicely before you pour it over your totally cooled cake.

Storage and Reheating Instructions for Your Homemade Pound Cake

One of the absolute best things about a good pound cake, especially one this rich, is that it always tastes even better the next day! Seriously, the spices and the sweet potato flavor really meld together overnight. Since we’re dealing with that luscious cream cheese glaze cake topping, storing it correctly is key to keeping everything fresh and firm.

I recommend keeping this homemade pound cake covered tightly at room temperature for up to two days. Make sure the cake is completely cool before you cover it, otherwise, you’ll trap condensation, and that’s how we get soggy cake! If you need to keep it longer—say, for a week—you can absolutely store it in the refrigerator, but you might want to let it sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes before slicing so the butter in the cake softens up again.

If you’re having guests over and want to serve a slice warm (which is heavenly, by the way!), just give individual slices a quick 10 to 15 seconds in the microwave. It brings back some of that fresh-baked warmth without melting the glaze completely off. Enjoy that rich, spiced flavor all week long!

Variations on the Classic Sweet Potato Pound Cake

You know me—I love following a recipe to the letter, especially when it comes out as perfect as this sweet potato pound cake does! But sometimes, you just want to put your own little spin on things, right? I totally get it. Once you master the base recipe, feel free to play around a bit. It’s still going to be fantastic, maybe just with a slightly different aroma!

If you happen to love cobblers as much as I love pound cake, I’ve got a fantastic sweet potato cobbler recipe on the site that uses a similar spice profile if you’re looking for a different texture next time!

Spice Alternatives for a Warm Spiced Dessert

If you want to bump up that cozy factor—especially if you are getting ready for some serious fall baking recipes—try adding a little extra kick to your dry ingredients. I’m talking about introducing a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger or maybe a tiny pinch of allspice alongside the cinnamon and nutmeg. It adds real depth!

My favorite adjustment, though, is switching out the topping. While that tangy cream cheese glaze is divine, if you’re looking for something richer and more caramelly that whispers ‘Thanksgiving Dessert,’ try swapping it for a brown butter glaze. You just brown a quarter cup of butter until nutty, cool it slightly, and whisk it with about two cups of powdered sugar and a splash of milk or vanilla. It makes the whole cake taste unbelievably decadent.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sweet Potato Pound Cake

I totally get it—baking sometimes brings up little questions right before you jump in! Don’t worry about it; that’s why I put this section together. If you ever have a specific question that isn’t covered here, feel free to reach out to me through my contact page anytime!

Can I use canned sweet potato puree instead of fresh for this Moist Pound Cake?

You *can*, but I really, really advise against it if you’re chasing that ultimate flavor. Canned puree or pie filling usually has added sugar, water, and spices. If you use it, your sweet potato pound cake might end up too sweet or a little too wet, which ruins that perfectly moist pound cake texture we worked so hard to achieve! Freshly cooking and mashing your sweet potatoes ensures you control the moisture content completely.

What kind of pan works best for this recipe?

For this specific recipe, a 10-inch tube pan or a standard Bundt pan is what I swear by. Because this is a rich, dense homemade pound cake, the central tube helps the heat circulate up into the center of the batter. This is essential for ensuring the center cooks through evenly without the edges getting dried out before the middle is set. If you don’t use one, you might end up with a sunken center, which is a shame!

Is this a suitable Thanksgiving Desserts option?

Absolutely, yes! This is hands-down one of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts. It hits all those cozy, spiced notes everyone expects, but it acts more like a dense cake than a traditional pie. Plus, this is great for holiday prep—it tastes amazing the day after you make it, probably even better! Cover it up well, and it’s ready to go sitting on the counter.

Nutritional Estimate for Your Sweet Potato Pound Cake Slice

Now, let’s talk specifics for those keeping close tabs on what they’re serving up. Baking with love doesn’t mean we ignore the numbers completely, right? Since this is a rich, buttery slice of heaven, I always look at the nutritional breakdown as an estimate, because how much glaze you drizzle makes a big difference!

Keep in mind that these numbers are based on the full recipe yielding 12 generous servings and using the ingredients listed above. If you, like me sometimes, happen to use a *tiny* bit more butter because… well, you can’t help yourself… those numbers might shift a little! Treat this as a good benchmark for your delicious sweet potato pound cake.

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 450
• Sugar: 45g
• Fat: 24g
• Saturated Fat: 14g
• Carbohydrates: 58g
• Protein: 5g
• Sodium: 250mg

Share Your Experience Making This Comfort Food Baking Classic

Truly, the best part of sharing a recipe is hearing from you when you bake it! This sweet potato pound cake is a labor of love, and knowing it’s showing up on your tables—whether it’s for a weeknight treat or as a show-stopping centerpiece for your Thanksgiving desserts—brings me so much joy.

If you took these steps with me and ended up with a beautifully moist and spiced cake, please, please let me know how it went! Drop a comment below with your rating. Did you stick with the cream cheese glaze, or did you try one of the variations we chatted about?

And hey, if you captured any beautiful photos of your finished Southern dessert with that golden glaze dripping down the side, I would absolutely love to see it! Tag me on social media so I can share your success with the rest of our cooking community. You can find me over on Facebook—I always love seeing what you’re creating over there!

Happy baking, and cherish those moments around the table with this incredibly satisfying comfort food baking classic!

Ultra-Moist Southern Sweet Potato Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

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I am happy you found this recipe for an ultra-moist Southern Sweet Potato Pound Cake. This cake has a tender crumb, warm spices, and a tangy cream cheese glaze. It is a classic American comfort food perfect for fall gatherings or Thanksgiving.

• Author: purejoyalex
• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 70 min
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 min
• Yield: 12 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

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• 1 cup sweet potato puree (cooked and mashed)
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• For the Cream Cheese Glaze:
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1–2 tablespoons milk

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. This step builds the texture for your moist pound cake.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the sweet potato puree and vanilla extract until just combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until the batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To make the cream cheese glaze, beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
9. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until combined. Add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of milk. Beat until smooth, adding the second tablespoon of milk if needed to reach a pourable consistency.
10. Once the cake is completely cool, drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the top. Slice and serve this tender crumb cake.

Notes

• For the best flavor and moisture, use real sweet potato puree, not canned sweet potato pie filling.
• To make sweet potato puree, bake or boil whole sweet potatoes until soft, then mash them thoroughly.
• This cake tastes great the next day, making it a good choice for holiday prep.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 450
• Sugar: 45g
• Sodium: 250mg
• Fat: 24g
• Saturated Fat: 14g
• Unsaturated Fat: 10g
• Trans Fat: 0.5g
• Carbohydrates: 58g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 5g
• Cholesterol: 95mg