Sweet potato cakes are crisp on the outside, smooth and creamy on the inside, and slightly chewy. In their simplest form, they only have two ingredients: sweet potatoes and rice flour. We like to jazz them up with sesame seeds and a brown sugar and walnut filling.
Jump to:
When we first made sweet potato cakes and Jie took the first bite, she became emotional as a flood of childhood memories came rushing back. The deep personal connections that we all have with food and its power to transport us back to earlier times are a couple of the reasons we are passionate about creating and sharing food.
In China there are different versions of pan-fried cakes, including pumpkin cakes (nan gua bing 南瓜饼), which may be more common than sweet potato. Our sweet potato cake recipe was inspired by a sweet potato cake recipe in the “The Food of Sichuan” cookbook and by a pumpkin cakes recipe from Hannah over at The Plant-based Wok.
How to Make Sweet Potato Cakes
Sweet potato cakes are surprisingly simple to make. The basic process involves cooking and mashing the sweet potatoes and then mixing with glutinous rice flour to make a dough. The dough is flattened into small discs and pan-fried until crispy on the outside.
The most technical part of making these is getting the right ratio of sweet potato to glutinous rice flour. Every time we make these the amount of flour we use changes a little depending on the amount of moisture in the sweet potatoes.
The goal is to make the “dough” just dry enough to handle without it sticking to everything it touches. If your sweet potato and rice flour mixture is too sticky to handle, try adding a little more flour until it gets to the right consistency – kind of like playdough.
Sweet potato cakes can be filled or left plain. The most common filling may be red bean paste, but they can be customized with the filling of your choice. Inspired by Korean sweet pancakes, we filled half with brown sugar and crushed walnuts and left the other half plain. Mark loves to drizzle honey on them right before eating.
If you have any questions about making these, please leave them in the comments below.
Ingredients
Essential Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes
- Glutinous rice flour
- Cooking oil for pan-frying
Optional Ingredients for filling and topping
- Sesame seeds
- Walnuts
- Brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Honey for drizzling on top right before eating
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
If you prefer to watch instead you can see the video below in the recipe card.
Cook the sweet potatoes
Peel and then cut the sweet potatoes into large chunks (about 2 inches). The size of the chunks doesn’t matter but you will need to adjust your cooking time accordingly. Steam sweet potatoes for approximately 25 minutes until tender and you can easily pierce with a fork.
Let cool to room temperature before proceeding – you can place in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.
Make walnut filling (if using)
Pulse walnuts in a food processor to make small pieces. Mix walnuts with brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
Mix the dough
Mash or blend sweet potatoes and then mix with glutinous rice flour. You can use a blender or mix with a spoon. Just make sure the mashed sweet potatoes and rice flour are completely incorporated together. This is the step where you may need to adjust the amount of rice flour used depending on the water content of your sweet potatoes.
The goal is for the texture to be just dry enough to handle without the mixture sticking to your hands or surfaces. Dust hands with rice flour to make the mixture easier to handle.
Form the cakes
Break off enough dough to roll into 1.5-inch (3.8 centimeters) balls. Place balls on a flat surface dusted with rice flour (or in your hand) and flatten into ½ inch (1.25 centimeters) disks.
If filling with brown sugar and walnuts, make an indention in the middle of the disk and spoon in one teaspoon (can add more if you like) of walnut brown sugar filling. Gently pull the sides together and pinch to close the disk. Re-flatten the cakes into a disk shape being careful not to cause the cake to rupture.
If using sesame seeds, pour sesame seeds onto a small flat plate and press each side of the cakes into the seeds so that the seeds stick to each side of the sweet potato cakes.
Repeat until all dough is used. Tip: dust your surfaces with flour so the cakes don’t stick while they wait to be cooked.
Pan-fry the cakes
We cover the bottom of the pan with a ¼ inch of rapeseed oil. The exact amount you will need will depend on the size of your pan.
Heat the oil to 300°F (148°C) - 310°F (155°C). If the oil is too hot the cakes can easily overcook, so watch them closely and turn the heat down as needed. The oil should bubble gently around the cakes.
Carefully place the cakes into the hot oil leaving a little room between each one to make flipping easier.
Let cook until golden brown on each side. Approximately 3 - 4 minutes on each side depending on the temperature and your dough mixture.
Remove and place on a paper towel to drain. Enjoy while still warm to experience the optimal crispy sensation. While these will save, they lose their crispiness after cooling. Try drizzling honey or maple syrup on them right before eating.
Have fun and let us know how yours turn out in the comments below!
Substitutions and Variations
Try using pumpkin or purple sweet potatoes for different variations. Get creative and let us know what you try!
Equipment
We use a non-stick pan but you can use a heavily seasoned cast iron pan if you have one.
Storage
Sweet potato cakes can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, but they lose their crispiness. You can reheat in a skillet before serving to help revive them.
Top tip
Let the steamed sweet potatoes cool before mixing them with the glutinous rice flour – you can place them in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. In our experience, hot sweet potatoes maintain a sticker texture when mixing with rice flour and therefore end up requiring a higher ratio of rice flour to be able to handle the “dough.”
Dust your hands and all surfaces with rice flour so the cakes won’t stick while handling them and while they are waiting to be cooked.
📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Cakes (hongshu bing 红薯饼)
Ingredients
- 1.25 pounds sweet potatoes
- 10 ounces glutinous rice flour
- cooking oil for pan-frying
Optional Ingredients for filling and topping
- ⅛ cup raw sesame seeds
- ⅓ cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon honey for drizzling on top right before eating
Instructions
Cook the sweet potatoes
- Peel and then cut the sweet potatoes into large chunks (about 2 inches). The size of the chunks doesn’t matter but you will need to adjust your cooking time accordingly. Steam sweet potatoes for approximately 25 minutes until tender and you can easily pierce with a fork.1.25 pounds sweet potatoes
- Let cool to room temperature before proceeding – you can place in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.
Make walnut filling (if using)
- Pulse walnuts in food processor to make small pieces. Mix walnuts with brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.⅓ cup walnuts, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Mix the dough
- Mash or blend sweet potatoes and then mix with glutinous rice flour. You can use a blender or mix with a spoon. Just make sure the mashed sweet potatoes and rice flour are completely incorporated together. This is the step where you may need to adjust the amount of rice flour used depending on the water content of your sweet potatoes.1.25 pounds sweet potatoes, 10 ounces glutinous rice flour
- The goal is for the texture to be just dry enough to handle without the mixture sticking to your hands or surfaces. Dust hands with rice flour to make the mixture easier to handle.
Form the cakes
- Break off enough dough to roll into 1.5-inch (3.8 centimeters) balls. Place balls on a flat surface dusted with rice flour (or in your hand) and flatten into ½ inch (1.25 centimeters) disks.
- If filling with brown sugar and walnuts, make an indention in the middle of the disk and spoon in one teaspoon (can add more if you like) of walnut brown sugar filling. Gently pull the sides together and pinch to close the disk. Re-flatten the cakes into a disk shape being careful not to cause the cake to rupture.
- If using sesame seeds, pour sesame seeds onto a small flat plate and press each side of the cakes into the seeds so that the seeds stick to each side of the sweet potato cakes.⅛ cup raw sesame seeds
- Repeat until all dough is used. Tip: dust your surfaces with flour so the cakes don’t stick while they wait to be cooked.
Pan-fry the cakes
- We cover the bottom of the pan with a ¼ inch of rapeseed oil. The exact amount you will need will depend on the size of your pan.
- Heat the oil to 300°F (148°C) - 310°F (155°C). If the oil is too hot the cakes can easily overcook, so watch them closely and turn the heat down as needed. The oil should bubble gently around the cakes.Carefully place the cakes into the hot oil leaving a little room between each one to make flipping easier.
- Let cook until golden brown on each side. Approximately 3 - 4 minutes on each side depending on the temperature and your dough mixture.
- Remove and place on a paper towel to drain. Enjoy while still warm to experience the optimal crispy sensation. While these will save, they lose their crispiness after cooling. Try drizzling honey or maple syrup on them right before eating.1 tablespoon honey
Video
Notes
Top tips
Let the steamed sweet potatoes cool before mixing them with the glutinous rice flour – you can place them in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. In our experience, hot sweet potatoes maintain a sticker texture when mixing with rice flour and therefore end up requiring a higher ratio of rice flour to be able to handle the “dough.” Dust your hands and all surfaces with rice flour so the cakes won’t stick while handling them and while they are waiting to be cooked.Nutrition
Nutrition disclaimer
malaeats.com is created for informational purposes only. Although we do our best to provide nutritional information to our readers as a general guideline, we are not certified nutritionists and the nutritional values provided should be considered estimates. Numerous factors such as variations in fresh ingredients, brands purchased, etc. will alter the nutritional values in any recipe. Different online calculators also provide different results depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, please use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities you used.
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods (less than 2 hours is recommended by the CDC).
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove.
See more guidelines at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention website.
Jenny
These are the perfect dessert because they aren't too sweet and are made mostly of sweet potato 🙂
Mala Eats Family
We think so also! You can also try using steamed pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes.
Max Stawarski
These sweet potato cakes were fire! Slightly chewy with a perfect fragrance and a hint of sweetness. Thanks for this awesome recipe bro!
Mala Eats Family
Glad you thought they were on fire! We love them too! We usually make these around holidays as a slightly healthier dessert.