Hi Ida,

Our Recipe Developer, Julia Rackow made the following suggestion. In this case, a blender wouldn't work, but you could make this work with a bowl and a whisk. The only note would be to grind the coconut in a spice grinder and use a potato ricer, handheld/tabletop stand mixer or food mill for the sweet potato. You want the potatoes to have a smooth texture, no lumps before mixing it in with the other ingredients.

Best,
The Milk Street Team

Hi Paula -

You should be able to substitute almond milk for the whole milk in the recipe. Just keep in mind that almond milk is lower in fat (more like 2% cows milk) so it may be slightly less rich, though you may not even notice a difference. Also, almond milk has more water than cows milk so the water will evaporate and the cake may rise and cook faster. Good luck!

Best,
The Milk Street Team

Hi Jess -

I think this would great on its own as a non-traditional Thanksgiving dessert! We haven't tested it with canned pumpkin so I can't provide any real advice, but I do think the difference in moisture level between the two might impact how the cake turns out.

Best,
The Milk Street Team

Hi Linda -

We would advise against making the potatoes ahead. Baking requires such a delicate balance of ingredients to make a successful recipe that we think the potatoes would dry out too much overnight in the fridge and throw off the overall moisture of the cake. Same if the potatoes were cold and had to be reheated. Fortunately we found we could shortcut the cooking by using the microwave, which only takes about 5 minutes.

Best,
The Milk Street Team