RECIPE: Sweet potato and black sesame marble bundt from Tenderheart!

by |September 19, 2022
Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon

Tenderheart is a book about vegetables. It is also a story of unbreakable family bonds, love and loss, and the legacy of food as a way to stay connected to loved ones, including those who have passed.

In this masterwork from Australia’s most respected vegetable-loving food writer, Hetty Lui McKinnon takes readers on a vegetable-by-vegetable journey, packed with clever and inventive ways to combine ingredients, flavours and texture. With practicality, accessibility and economy in mind, Hetty devotes one chapter to each of her 22 favourite everyday vegetables, from Asian greens to zucchini. As is Hetty’s signature, the flavours are globally inspired, with an emphasis on simple yet inventive weeknight cooking.

180 new, inspired and always delicious recipes will change how you see the humble vegetable and what it is capable of, forever. This is the ultimate vegetable bible from Australia’s reigning salad queen.


This cake is a triumphant combination of opposites, sharply contrasting flavours and colours that both complement and highlight one another. One part is delicately moist thanks to the sweet potato, the other part dense, nutty and earthy, courtesy of the black sesame. While visually impressive, this is a simple cake to make, and fun too – the two batters mingling and
swirling together to create a dramatic marbling effect. Special enough to serve for a celebration, but also easy enough to bake for the family for afternoon tea, this cake falls into my favourite category of desserts – not too sweet. Black sesame paste, sometimes called black tahini, can be found at Asian or Middle Eastern supermarkets (it’s also easy to find online), but if you are unable to source it, you could use regular tahini, adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder to deepen the colour and add a chocolatey edge.

Sweet potato and black sesame marble bundt

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

  • 450 g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
  • 225 g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 220 g (1 cup) white sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 125 g unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 150 g (1/2 cup) black sesame paste (black tahini)
  • 3 tablespoons regular full-cream, oat or soy milk
  • icing sugar, for dusting

Method

Pour 2–3 cm of water into a saucepan or deep frying pan and bring to the boil. Add the sweet potato to a steaming basket, then place the steamer in the pan, making sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the steamer. Cover and steam for 10 minutes or until the sweet potato is completely soft. Remove the sweet potato from the steamer and transfer to a bowl. Mash until completely pureed.

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk together to combine well.

In another bowl, combine the sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Divide the mixture in half, separating it into two bowls (I just eyeball this, though you can weigh it if you like). To one bowl of batter, add the mashed sweet potato and fold until combined. To the other bowl of batter, add the black sesame paste and milk and fold until combined.

Prepare your bundt tin right before you are ready to fill it – this prevents the oil from running to the bottom of the tin. Grease a 10–12 cup capacity bundt tin with non-stick oil spray, making sure to pay extra attention to any details and crevices in your pan, then scatter with sugar. Shake the tin to evenly distribute the sugar, then remove any excess sugar by tipping the tin upside-down over the sink (you can also use a 22cm springform tin or large 25 cm x 13 cm loaf tin lined with baking paper).

Add spoonfuls of the two batters alternately to the bundt tin, distributing it evenly. Run a single chopstick or knife through the mixture to create a marbled effect.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 1–1 1/4. hours. Start checking the cake for doneness at the 1 hour mark. Insert a toothpick or bamboo skewer into the cake and if it comes out clean, it is ready.

Leave the cake in the tin on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, before turning out to cool completely. Once cooled, dust the cake with a little icing sugar.

For gluten free • use cup-for-cup gluten-free plain flour

Veganise • use flax eggs, vegan butter and non-dairy milk

Substitute • black sesame paste: Chinese sesame paste, tahini

Vegetable swap • sweet potato: pumpkin, parsnip

Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon (Pan Macmillan Australia) is out on the 27th of September.

Tenderheartby Hetty Lui McKinnon

Tenderheart

A book about vegetables and unbreakable family bonds

by Hetty Lui McKinnon

Tenderheart is a book about vegetables. It is also a story of unbreakable family bonds, love and loss, and the legacy of food as a way to stay connected to loved ones, including those who have passed.

In this masterwork from Australia's most respected vegetable-loving food writer, Hetty Lui McKinnon takes readers on a vegetable-by-vegetable journey, packed with clever and inventive ways to combine ingredients, flavours and texture. With practicality, accessibility and economy in mind, Hetty devotes one chapter to each of her 22 favourite everyday vegetables, from Asian greens to zucchini. As is Hetty's signature, the flavours are globally inspired, with an emphasis on simple yet inventive weeknight cooking.

180 new, inspired and always delicious recipes will change how you see the humble vegetable and what it is capable of, forever. This is the ultimate vegetable bible from Australia's reigning salad queen.

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