Vegan Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding
I enjoyed sweet potato pudding while growing up in Jamaica. It is easy to make, using a food processor or a blender. I must say it wasn’t as easy to make when I was growing up, but it was such a delight to eat and an appreciation of my mother’s labor of love that brings back warm memories!
Vegan Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding
In Jamaica, they call this baking style “hell a top, hell a bottom, and hallelujah in the middle.” It results in a decadent pudding with a perfectly baked sweet custard top.
Nowadays, I make my version of Jamaican sweet potato pudding vegan and gluten-free. I quickly peel and chop the potatoes. Process in a food processor, add canned coconut milk, gluten-free flour, and spices, and pop it in an oven. I do a special step to get the custard topping by adding extra sweetened coconut milk halfway during baking.
This recipe is a must-try, there isn’t much room to fail if you are trying it for the first time. You will be happy you tried it! Serve it with my Jamaican Stew Peas with Dumplings and my Jamaican Sorrel Drink for a truly authentic taste of the Island.
In Jamaica, this baking style is called “hell a top, hell a bottom, and hallelujah in the middle.” The result would be a decadent pudding perfectly baked with a sweet custard top.
Nowadays, I make my version of Jamaican sweet potato pudding vegan and gluten-free. I peel and chop the potatoes.
Process in a food processor, add canned coconut milk, gluten-free flour, and spices, and pop it in an oven. I do a special step to get the custard topping by adding extra sweetened coconut milk halfway during baking.
This recipe is a must-try, there isn’t much room to fail if you are trying it for the first time. You will be happy you tried it! Serve it with my Jamaican Stew Peas with Dumplings and my Jamaican Sorrel Drink for a truly authentic taste of the Island.
How To Make Vegan Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding
To make Jamaican Sweet Potato pudding, you will need a special variety of sweet potato that has white flesh with red skin. It is mainly sold in West Indian, Asian and African grocery stores. But fortunately, it’s getting more popular here in the USA and it can even be found in Walmart. Sometimes it is also sold as ‘batata’.
Pro Chef Tip
Update: I have known readers who have replaced gluten-free flours with regular all-purpose flour with great success.
Also, a reader noted that she has doubled the flour and was able to have success using American sweet potatoes. I will have to try it soon.
How to Store Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding?
I usually store mine for 1-2 days in a container with a tight-fitting lid, then refrigerate any leftovers. It also freezes well.
Other Vegan Desserts To Try
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Vegan Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potato (aka batata) *See Notes
- 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
- 1 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon ginger freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour or brown rice flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg optional
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Custard Topping
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pinch cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375℉. Grease a 9-inch round baking pan. Set aside.
- Peel sweet potatoes and roughly chop. Grate using the grater or a food processor in batches. If using a food processor or blender, add some coconut milk to help process.
- Transfer grated sweet potatoes to a large bowl, add coconut milk, coconut palm sugar, spices and salt.
- Stir in flour to form a mostly smooth batter.
- Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 45 minutes.
- Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl and pour evenly on the top of the pudding.
- Return pudding to oven and bake for another 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
- Delicious served alone or with coconut whipped cream.
- Please double the flour if using the regular American sweet potato variety.
It’s very simple to make this recipe, thank you for sharing
Fantastic recipe! I just went vegan 2 months ago and always on the search for recipes similar to what I used to make and this will definitely
be my replacement for sweet potato pie. No need for crust, eggs, butter and dairy milk. This more dense texture makes crust unnecessary. Couldn’t believe how buttery it tasted without butter.
I did make some substitutes because of what I had on hand, but can say this recipe is legit as is and easy to modify to your taste. My substitutes included: Unrefined sugar; oat flour (2 cups of rolled oats and pulsed in my ninja blender); mostly steamed butternut squash (in pressure cooker for 10 minutes) with a very small amount of sweet potatoes (bc that’s what I had); and generous with the nutmeg and cinnamon (bc that’s what I like). I once made a carrot pie with all the same seasonings and that was fantastic, so I figured butternut squash would do the same and it did not disappoint.
Thanks for this keeper!
Hi, can you please share measurement in grams? Grated sweet potato in particular..
for 2 pounds potato in grams would be 907.184
I love how you make this Jamaican sweet potato pudding,I will try and make this next week
I am so excited to cook this recipe
Hello! Excited to try this recipe. Can you explain what you mean by your “special step” adding extra sweetened coconut milk halfway through baking!? I definitely want to achieve this! But im not sure what you mean. Thanks!
Hello Mineko, the special step is for adding the custard topping halfway through baking. So you are making the recipe step by step as written. The section in the ingredient list where it says Custard topping, all those ingredients will be mixed together and be poured on top of the pudding halfway through baking.
I have not yet tried any of your recipes, but I am sure to do so. They all sound yummy! Thank you so much for sharing your learning and background along with the recipes.
I loved this! I used American sweet potatoes and double the GF flour as instructed. It is so delicious and I love how the top coating sets after baking. My kids liked it but want me to use the blender next time so the sweet potatoes do not have a “texture”.
Gaby, that’s awesome, I’m happy it turned out great with American sweet potatoes. Yes the blender method works great. Chop the sweet potato into tiny bite-sized pieces and blend with the coconut milk.
This Jamaican sweet potato pudding is really good
I love this ,I am from RWANDA,I will try this at my home
What other sugars can be used in place of the coconut palm? I am wondering about a mix of white and brown sugar? Recipe looks delicious!
Lynda, this recipe is very forgiving, you can use about any sweetener you choose, I have your sugar in the raw, dates, maple syrup, a combination of stevia with maple syrup as well.
If i chose to use dates or even white sugar, do i need to change the proportions of flour or anything else?
Nope, blend the pitted dates with coconut milk and just make sure the batter is not stiff. Add extra coconut milk if it is too stiff. Recipe is very forgiving.
I can’t wait to try this version