for as long as i can remember, i detested chiffon cakes and pound cakes alot. i used to associate them with local old-school kinda bakeries where the only flavors available were pandan and chocolate. but ever since coming across them in french and japanese cookbooks where the flavor combinations and decor wise were anything but boring, i started looking at them in a different light.

i bought some really beautiful purple sweet potatoes during the weekend and immediately set my eyes on this. i've seen this on several blogs and the violet amethyst-like cubes embedded within the cake really caught my attention. i guess i just hv this weakness for pretty desserts (and purple sweet potatoes).




the cake turned out fluffier than i thought, consider that the purple sweet potato puree was rather thick and heavy. tastewise its pretty mild since the sweet potato doesn't really hv much taste/aroma to begin with but i do like the subtle sweetness and the contrast of the cubes with the cake. i also think that its better eaten fresh from the oven coz that raw eggy smell will be more apparent upon cooling.



recipe is adapted from here and the original yields a 17cm cake but i scaled it up since i only hv a 22cm tin. also, i don't like the idea of using cream of tartar when whisking egg whites coz i don't see a difference in the results. japanese pastry chefs don't use it in their recipes either so i'll usually omit. sugar and egg whites alone will give you a beautiful meringue so you don't need cream of tartar, or vinegar, or lemon juice.

i made purple sweet potato mont blanc again last week upon hubby's request and got some leftover puree from it. its not easy to find purple sweet potato recipes out there especially dessert ones (so far i only came across a few blogs using the same purple sweet potato chiffon cake recipe). i wanted to go for that at 1st but the thought of having to use 5 eggs in a cake just don't appeal to me. and having to work with egg whites all day while making macarons, the last thing i wanna do is whisk more egg whites so i decided on something simple and i made this without a recipe. drawing my inspiration from the korean hobakjuk (sweet pumpkin porridge) and the chinese black sesame seed paste, i decided to make a paste/gruel of sorts and then topped it with glutinous rice balls and sesame seeds. surprisingly it tasted quite good.

finally i feel like i've made enough desserts to compile them into an entry. read my previous instalments of desserts i made part I here and part II here. my momentum for making them this year has dropped to an all-time low. apart from family birthdays and some practising in order to prevent my dessert making skills from getting "rusty" i haven't been making very much. on average i'm making just one every month, i wish i could make desserts every other day but sadly, the waistline just cannot afford it!



clockwise from top left : purple sweet potato mont blanc, opera tiramisu verrines, strawberry shortcake, orange choc cake, pistache-abricot entremet & almond raspberry financiers.