Sweet Potato Surprise Cake from the Central Carolina Fair
When I was first asked to help judge the cake contest at the Central Carolina Fair last weekend, I thought it would be all fun and games. What could be better than getting to sample dozens of cakes?
Turns out there is too much of a good thing. By the time we got to the last few categories, the sugar, butter, shortening and rich ingredients had me with a tummy ache. One of the other judges told me she learned her lesson last year and had popped a few Tums before judging.
But it was worth it in the end. One cake stood out above all the rest for me — a Sweet Potato Surprise Cake that ended up taking the Judge’s Choice ribbon in addition to first place in the Open Class category.
But how to get the recipe?
Then it occurred to me that if I wrote a column about the contest, I would have a reason to ask for the recipe! And as luck would have it, the winning baker, Brenda Graham, 61, of Greensboro, was more than willing to share her secrets.
Graham had never entered the contest before, but as the oldest of five kids in a family where both parents worked, she has been cooking since about the seventh grade.
Graham recently became head of the kitchen at her church, Union Memorial United Methodist on East Lee Street. She’s used to serving big groups from her days cooking for a large family and a never-ending stream of guests.
“We never had any leftovers because I had three brothers and a daddy who could out-eat anybody,” she says.
Cooking runs in the family. She says her grandmother was “one of the better cake makers” she can remember, and her sister’s a wonderful cook. Graham’s granddaughter, who is 14, is on the culinary track at Dudley High School this year.
This summer, her nephew started in the 4-H Clubs of Guilford County, the group behind all the exhibits and displays you see at the Central Carolina Fair.
Graham’s sister flipped through the contest rule book and told Graham she should enter something.
Graham didn’t think she’d win.
“I was totally shocked, but then I was thankful,” she says.
Now, she’s looking on to bigger and better things — she’s thinking about entering the cake contest at the state fair.
Graham chose her recipe because it wasn’t the kind of cake you see all the time.
“I had made it before, and I just thought it was different,” she says. “This is fall, and everyone likes sweet potatoes.”
She found the basic recipe in a magazine or paper, then modified it. She reduced the amount of oil and added more sweet potatoes. Also, she decided to chop up the coconut for the frosting in a food processor until it was fine because she doesn’t like stringy coconut.
SWEET POTATO SURPRISE CAKE
1 1/2 cups cooking oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans)
4 tablespoons hot water
1.5-2 cups raw, grated sweet potato
Combine cooking oil and sugar. Beat until smooth. Add egg yolks and beat well.
Sift together dry ingredients. Add hot water to oil mixture, then the dry ingredients.
Stir in potatoes, nuts and vanilla. Beat well.
Beat the four egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture.
Bake in three 8-inch pans at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
FROSTING
1 large can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 stick margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cup flaked coconut
Combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla in saucepan, stirring constantly, and cook until it’s thick like pudding.
Fold in coconut. Let it cool so it thickens more.
Frost top, sides and between layers of the cake.
