Unlike the Steel Magnolia Cake [MB: I shall look into this], this cake has a serious wow factor. Cora sells it by special order during the holiday season, and our customers report that it is a crowd-pleaser. It is also insanely delicious: light, flavorful, sweet without being cloyingly sweet. I highly recommend it. —The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Southern Revival by Alexe van Beuren with recipes by Dixie Grimes (2014)

Daughter C & The J-Man got this cookbook for Mr. Big Food years ago. The B.T.C. is just up the road in Water Valley, Mississippi. We’ve eaten there many times. Delicious. And both Mr. Big Food & I have cooked from this book over and over. Always excellent (if at times a bit sweet).

CORA’S SWEET AUTUMN CAKE WITH ICING AND CARAMEL

Serves 8 to 10

CAKE

2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped into chunks, covered with water, brought to a boil, cooked over medium-high flame until soft, 25 minutes, drained, beaten until mashed, stood 10 minutes
3 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 rsp salt
1¾ C (3½ sticks) butter, “unsalted,” room temperature, plus more softened for greasing cake pans
2¾ C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 C pecans, chopped, plus an additional ¼ C crushed, for garnish
Icing
Caramel

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease three 9″ cake pans with additional butter. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Beat 1 C (2 sticks) of butter and sugar in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, add vanilla, then add dry ingredients alternately with mashed sweet potatoes. Combine graham cracker crumbs, 1 C chopped pecans, and remaining ¾ C (1½ sticks) butter, press mixture evenly into prepared cake pans, divide batter evenly among pans, and bake until wooden toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool for about 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto wire racks and let cool completely. Put 1 cake layer on serving plate, frost top with Icing, repeat with second and third cake layers and Icing, and finish by frosting sides of cake. Drizzle cooled Caramel over top of cake, garnish with additional crushed pecans, and serve.

ICING

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
½ C (1 stick) butter, “unsalted,” room temperature
4 C confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
In medium mixing bowl beat together all ingredients until smooth.

CARAMEL

1 C (packed) light brown sugar
½ C half-and-half
¼ C (½ stick) butter, “unsalted”
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Combine brown sugar, half-and-half, and butter in a skillet over medium-high flame and cook, whisking, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add vanilla, remove pan from flame, and let cool completely.