Sweet Potato Pecan Pound Cake

• Grease and flour a tube pan. (Ours has a 12 cup baking capacity).
• Preheat the oven to 325℉
• Sprinkle ½ cup of chopped pecans in the bottom of the pan.

For the Swirl

• Combine the brown sugar and finely chopped pecans in a small bowl. Set aside for later.

For the Cake

• Dry Ingredients-- In a separate bowl whisk the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt to combine, set aside for later.
• Wet Ingredients- In a medium bowl, Combine the 1¼ cup sweet potato puree, ¼ cup milk, and vanilla. Set Aside for later.
• Using an electric mixer (paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), mix the butter in your mixing bowl on medium speed until smooth. Next, gradually add the white and brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy for 4-5 minutes.
• Add the eggs one at a time to the butter & sugar mixture, blending after each until the yolk is incorporated.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sweet potato puree mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture in the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. I do three additions of dry, alternating with two additions of wet. Mix just until combined.

Layering the Batter

• Scoop about half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the "swirl mixture" over the batter (brown sugar and pecans), and then spoon the remaining batter on top of it. Lightly smooth with the back of a spoon or tap the pan on the counter to level the batter.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Baking times may vary depending on the type of pan, oven, etc. Peek in as the end time approaches and adjust as needed.
• Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out.
• The cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container, under a cake dome, or in a bakery box. This cake freezes nicely also. (See notes for details).

For the Caramel Glaze (optional)

• Using a medium size saucepan (deep enough to prevent boil over) melt the butter over medium heat.Add the brown sugar and the remaining ingredients and heat on medium high heat.
• Stir to blend, try to keep mixture off the sides of the pan. Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 6 minutes, checking often to make sure that it is not going to boil over. It should still be bubbling.
• After 6 minutes, remove from heat. Keep in mind that the caramel with thicken up a bit as it cools. You can pour it into a long glass casserole dish if you want it to cool more quickly. We often refrigerate to cool it off as well.
• Makes about 1 cup caramel sauce. It can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Adding the Glaze

• Once the cake and caramel have cooled, you can either spoon the caramel over the cake, or for more control, add to a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away or to a ziplock bag with a bit of the corner snipped away and drizzle onto the cake.