Sweet Potato Pecan Cake with Maple Glaze: Warm and Cozy Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Warm and Cozy.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Sweet Potato Pecan Cake with Maple Glaze. Because nothing says warm and cozy like a fire in the fireplace, a hot (spiked) seasonal drink and the aroma of a holiday cake baking in the oven.

Sweet Potato Pecan Cake with Maple Glaze

I've heard a lot of people talk about Sweet Potato Pie. It sounds delicious but I have to admit I've never made one. The flavors are so representative of this holiday season I decided to try to develop my own version. But since the holidays are about family, I was unsure how mine would feel about a Sweet Potato Pie. How could I change it up in a way that would be well received?

Cake. That's it. Cake. 

I knew I wanted the cake itself to not only include sweet potatoes but other flavors of the season. College Boy loves sweet potato served with brown sugar and maple syrup so I used that as my inspiration.

For ease, and because I knew I'd be adding a lot of flavor, I started with a boxed cake mix and a can of sweet potatoes. I decided to layer the mix with a swirl of cinnamon and maple syrup in the center.

I topped with the rest of the batter and baked.

More maple syrup mixed with powdered sugar for a simple glaze over the top once the cake was cool and it was ready to serve.

This cake filled my house with all of the aromas of Fall and the holiday season. 

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:


Kia of Think in English shares Warm and Cozy Around the World. 

Kayla of That One Birch shares a way to show holiday love when baking cookies aren't your thing, A Very Merry Fruit Pizza.

Kristin of Little Mama Jama shares Cozy Winter Afternoons and Tree Lighting Traditions. 

Rabia of The Lieber Family Blog shares how to make a Mermaid Tail Blanket.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Inexpensive Gifts for Anyone!

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Tips for Building Community in the Blogging World.

                  

Sweet Potato Pecan Cake with Maple Glaze

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix
1 (15 oz) can sweet potatoes
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
3 eggs
2 oz chopped pecans

1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2  cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
*Drain, mash and whisk the sweet potatoes.
*Mix together 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Set aside.
*Beat cake mix, sweet potatoes, water, oil, pumpkin pie spice mix and eggs for 2 minutes. Mix in the pecans.
*Pour half the cake mix into the prepared pan. Top with the maple syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon mix and swirl in. Top with the rest of the cake mix.
*Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until center of the top springs back to the touch.
*Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
*Mix the 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the remaining maple syrup. Drizzle over the cooled cake.