Pan de Batata Recipe (Dominican Sweet Potato Cake)

Pan de Batata Recipe (Dominican Sweet Potato Cake): a delicious dessert with a very exotic and spicy taste, the aroma of cinnamon, cloves, and a touch of ginger.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Dominican

Keyword sweet potato dessert, sweet potato pudding

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 382kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

2 lb [0.9 kg] of sweet potatoes
1/3 cup of coconut oil , plus extra to grease pan
2 medium eggs
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of whole milk
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of grated ginger (or 4 tsp ginger powder)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon of cloves powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg powder
1/2 cup finely chopped coconut

Instructions

Make batter: Peel the sweet potatoes (raw!). Chop and place in a food processor bowl. Grind it to the texture of brown sugar. Add eggs, brown sugar, milk, salt, oil, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg powder. Pulse until you obtain a smooth batter. Mix in the chopped coconut by with a spatula.
If you do not have a food processor, grate the sweet potatoes with the least coarse side of your grater, then mix with the rest of the ingredients as instructed above.
Bake: Grease a small bread loaf pan, if your pan tends to stick, line with greased parchment paper and also grease the paper. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake in preheated oven to 350 ºF [175 ºC] until you pinch with a clean knife and it comes out clean (about 35 mins).
Serve: Cool to room temperature before removing from the pan. Serve at room temperature with a hot drink of your choice.

Video

Notes

The variety of sweet potato used for this dessert (batata), although common in the Dominican Rep. might be more difficult to find elsewhere.

The potato used for this (called Japanese yam or Oriental sweet potato) is a bright purple one with a greenish flesh and very sweet once cooked. If you can not find this type you will need to add three tablespoons of cornstarch to the mixture to compensate for the lower amount of starch in other varieties.

Why is this cake so dark? The answer is: oxidation. Sweet potatoes oxidize very fast in the presence of air, grating it makes it darker as it mixes with air, which gives this dessert its characteristic color. You'll see how it starts to change its color during the preparation.

This is an unleavened cake, the result is more pudding-like, dense, and a bit chewy. Just in case you've never tried it.

Nutrition