Sweet Potato Tea Cake With Meringue

Ingredients

• For the Cake
  • ¾ pound/340 grams sweet potatoes (about 1 medium), peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
  • Unsalted butter, for greasing pan
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice
  • ¾ cup/180 milliliters vegetable oil
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons/125 grams granulated sugar
  • ⅔ cup/125 grams packed brown sugar
  • 1¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1¾ cups/225 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1¾ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of ground cloves
• For the Meringue Topping
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 6 tablespoons/60 grams granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Prepare the cake: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil sweet potatoes until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes, then drain. (You should have about 2 cups.)
2. Meanwhile, make the meringue: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites, sugar and vanilla until glossy, stiff but not dry peaks form. Scrape meringue into a bowl and set aside; rinse off the whisk attachment and bowl and return to stand mixer.
3. Heat oven to 325 degrees and butter a 9-by-5-inch (23-by-12-centimeter) loaf pan.
4. Transfer sweet potatoes to stand mixer bowl. Add orange juice and whisk until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl to make sure there are no lumps. Add oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt and mix until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition; use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add to egg mixture in stand mixer and combine on low speed just until smooth. Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan.
6. Use a spoon to top the batter with the meringue, gently swirling it into the batter and pulling it back out a few times to create streaked peaks. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.