Welcome potluck guests!
Have you had to change your shirt from all the drool yet? Today I am participating in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, which is basically a string of 100+ blogs all linked together with “forward” and “back” buttons/links to guide you through an online plant-based progressive dinner, if you will.
You’ll be taken through eight courses, with several bloggers participating in each course. You are currently in the first course, Appetizers, which will be followed by Beverages, Bread, Salad, Sides, Soups, Main Dishes and Dessert. You’ll find links to the previous dish/blog and the next dish/blog at the bottom of this post.
Most often on 86 Lemons, I test other people’s vegan recipes and report to my readers, letting them know if it’s a winner or not. Once in a while, I’ll post a recipe of my own, which is what I’ve done today. I racked my brain over what to create for this potluck.
The first sweet potato recipe I created turned out more like a dessert, so it was back to the drawing board. The second attempt was a result of having nearly nothing left in the kitchen to work with except sweet potatoes and asparagus. I thought to myself, “I can make this work.”
And I did! I was so happy with the results, and so was Hubs–he loved it!
What I came up with is Sweet Potato Asparagus Cakes with Lemon Basil Cream. How can that be bad, right?! The cakes have some heat to them, which can easily be adjusted to your taste. But definitely don’t skip the accompanying cream–it’s the icing on the cake and balances out the flavors perfectly.
This is not a quick recipe, but good things to come to those who wait. ;) I promise, the payoff is worth it. Your vegan and/or gluten-free friends will not be the only ones to appreciate these cakes–this is a recipe for ANY food lover!
Now keep in mind, I’m not a trained chef and I’m definitely no pro, so if my combination of ingredients seems novice or odd, you’ll know why. What I can tell you is that I have high standards and I definitely wouldn’t post a dud. After all, I’m all about 86’ing the lemons.
By the way, it’s just the two of us (Hubs and me, no kids). I made a batch of these cakes and within a week, we managed to kill the leftovers. They reheat very well in the toaster oven.
If you give them a try, I would LOVE it if you came back and left feedback below. If you are new here and enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to 86 Lemons (by entering your email address in the column on the right) and/or keeping in touch via Facebook, Pinterest and/or Twitter.
Enjoy the Virtual Vegan Potluck and thanks again for stopping by!
To proceed to the NEXT dish/blog in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, CLICK HERE
To go BACK to the previous dish/blog in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, CLICK HERE
To start at the beginning of the VVP, CLICK HERE
I love that you didn’t give up until you got it right! And it looks like you got it SPOT on!
Well, those look like little morsels of heaven. Those look like just the right mix of crispy and soft. And your site is just beautiful! Well done!
I love the basil cashew cream here! Your sweet potato & bean cakes look so tasty too! MMMMMM! I can’t wait to make this divine combined recipe!!!
I also joined this time, in the dessert section! :) Many greets from a foodie from Belgium! :)
I LOOOVVE the photos!
These sound so yummy!
These look delicious! I think everything tastes better with a bit of a kick! Your photos are really lovely, thanks for sharing.
Bookmarked!! These look so lovely!
Awesome! Those look great and I love that they are GF too. Great pics!
These look great! Pinned! ; )
i’ll definitely be trying these, livvy! they look delicious! the texture looks awesome, too. crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. yum yum yum!
These are gorgeous! Bookmarking this to make for a Sunday dinner or dinner with friends!
Oh. Wow. Beautiful. Thank you so much for joining the Potluck!
Thank YOU for organizing it! Great turnout!
Can’t believe I have only just found your blog (thanks virtual vegan potluck!). Love the look of this recipe and your website and photography is gorgeous :)
These look great! Love the idea of combining sweet potato and asparagus. I’ll have to give these a try.
GIRL, I am so impressed! My first attempt at an Appetizer for VVP 3.0 was Sweet Potato Latkes and I could NOT get those things to work! Bon appetit! xx
Ohh man these looks gorgeous and delicious! I have a feeling I will be making them very, very soon! Happy VVP!
– alexis
http://www.sugarcoatedvegan.com
Super yum. They look like something I’d see on the potluck table, and then proceed to stand next to them and keep sneaking more of them.
Well first I’ll state the obvious, the photography is exquisite. Seriously, gorgeous – magazine worthy if not POSTER and BILLBOARD worthy. Amazing.
And second, ummm I love the recipe – I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes AND asparagus (asparagi?) so I’m LOVING these cakes!
Yum!!!! I love asparagus and sweet potatoes! Never thought of combing the two! Great idea and yummy job! Happy VVP! :)
These look really tasty and the photos are beautiful!
Your photos just blow me away more with each post. These look incredibly delicious and I love the cream, perfect addition! Happy VVP!!
This looks and sounds divine :) will try this soon
These look delicious. Anything with sweet potato is a winner. I will definitely be trying these very soon. Thank you.
These look SO delicious and beautiful photos! Great idea!
Wow, I can tell a lot of work went into developing this recipe, and it seems like it was worth it! I don’t think I ever would have thought of combining sweet potatoes and asparagus, but I definitely love them both separately, and the cakes look delicious. The lemon basil cream looks amazing, too! I am totally bookmarking this recipe. :)
OHH my gosh. Of all the sweet tater recipes so far THIS is my favorite. AMAZING! These look so good.
Hi, I made this for dinner tonight and they were delicious! I am not vegan or vegetarian, my main goal is to eat real food in it’s realest form. That being said I want to cook a few meatless dinners a week. So when I saw this it sounded perfect. I have made some of your other recipes with great success. My husband really enjoy these cakes as well. They were very tasty and full of flavor. The lemon basil sauce was delicious and I can see using it on other things. I love having leftovers too. My only issue was that they did kind of fall apart and I am not sure why. I followed the directions to a T. Any advice for next time?
Hi Denise, thanks so much for leaving feedback! I went back and looked at the recipe and realized that I forgot to include the two flax eggs! YIKES! I will go fix that right now. So sorry for the mistake. If you aren’t familiar with flax eggs, 1 Tbsp of flax meal (ground flax seed) mixed with 3 Tbsp room temp water = 1 egg. So double that for this recipe. Make sure to do this before you start the recipe, mix it really well with a spoon and set it aside to thicken up until you need it. In this case, it should be added to the sweet potato/chickpea mixture right after you scoop it out of the processor. Again, my apologies. I’m so glad you posted that comment and saved others from the same issue! Thank u!!!
Ah ha! I bet that will make them stay together perfectly. I did not have them completely fall apart, but…thank you for the feed back and all that you do, I thoroughly enjoy your blog:-)
You’re so sweet, thank YOU!
Oh my goodness, these look so amazing! I am definitely adding them to my potluck make list!
I am a fan of ‘odd’ flavor combinations. What would food be if we didn’t think outside the box? Great appetizer, thanks for sharing!
Beautiful photos! I love the addition of basil to the cream, they sound delicious!
I need these in my belly!!
Love it! Thanks for recipe :)
These look so flavourful and delicious! I love the idea of using sweet potatoes and asparagus because then it’s like the perfect transition recipe from winter to spring :) Happy potluck!
The pictures are gorgeous. Your recipe screams spring, brilliant!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I love sweet potato and I just bought some asparagus, so I may be trying these out soon :)
Lemon basil cream. Mmmmmmmm! This recipe looks amazing! – Kerry (from The Split Plate)
Good stuff! Love the beautiful photography.
x Vix
vixbakes.com :: vegan baking + raw desserts
Gorgeous photos, these look delicious. Thanks for bringing them to the potluck!
I made these (along with your salad with Herbed Strawberry Vinaigrette) for a brunch I had this Sunday. Everyone raved about them!! I accidentally peeled the sweet potatoes, so the batter was a bit looser and the cakes became hard to flip. Despite this, there was not a single crumb left over!
I’m wondering if you think these could be baked or broiled as well?
Thanks for the gorgeous recipe and pics!
Ooooh, I’ve been on a sweet potato binge lately and these will fit into my plan very nicely! Great job! :)
making these tomorrow and cant wait! i dont have buckwheat flour on hand…do you think coconut flour or almond meal would work? thank you!
I wouldn’t use coconut flour. Almond meal might work, but a better choice would be oat, millet or quinoa flour. Rice flour might work okay, too. Let me know how they turn out!
These sound so yummy – but I can’t have cashews! No nuts, no oils, no avocado (basically no fat). Any suggestions on what might work instead?
Thanks!
Hi Maggie! Yikes… I can’t really think of a good substitute. You could maybe try this oil-free hummus (add more lemon juice and lots of basil): http://www.rd.com/?p=56204