The Tribeca Yummies are going to have a whole repertoire of holiday classics under their belt before the end of this semester of cooking class. What Thanksgiving menu could be complete without a dish of sweet potato casserole?
To tell the truth, personally, I’m not a huge fan of the goopy marshmallows that usually top this dish. The smooth sweet potato puree layer needs something crunchy to distinguish the texture from something you might find in a jar of baby food. We pumped up the creaminess of the smooth layer with some coconut milk and then rounded everything out with crunchy broiled mini-marshmallows and caramelized pecans.
Most of the kids could barely get the ingredients into their
ramekins. A lot of the mummies were standing around the
class-sized casserole asking for seconds,
thirds…for them or for their Yummies? Probably both.
Sweet Potato Casserole with Caramelized Pecans and Crunchy Marshmallows
* 4 1/2 c. sweet potato puree***
*3 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
*1/3 c. light brown sugar (packed)
*2 organic eggs
*1/2 c. coconut milk (lite is fine)
*1/4 c. (4 T.) melted butter
*1 t. ground cinnamon
*2 c. mini-marshmallows
*2 c. raw pecan halves
*2 T. honey ( we used 1 T. buckwheat honey and 1 T. orange blossom)
*2 T. dark brown sugar (packed)
*2 T. water
*3 T. butter, cut into pieces
*1/4 t. salt
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Together: Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Put the sweet potato puree, O.J., 1/3 c. brown sugar, eggs, coconut milk, melted butter, and cinnamon in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at a medium-high speed for 3 minutes. (If doing this by hand, make sure you get all of the stringy bits from the sweet potato puree.) Spread the sweet potato mixture in the pan in an even layer.
Big Person: Put the baking dish in the oven, and bake 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the caramelized pecans. First line a large baking sheet with a couple of sheets of parchment paper. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, whisk the honey and dark brown sugar together with 2 tablespoons of water. After the mixture comes to a simmer, continue whisking for one minute. Add the butter and the salt and continue to whisk, bringing everything back up to a simmer and cooking for a minute or two. Add the pecans and stir with a rubber spatula to coat the nuts with the caramel. Continue to cook, stirring, another minute, and then dump the nuts onto the parchment paper to cool for a few minutes.
After the sweet potatoes are out of the oven, let your mini-chef give you handfuls of mini-marshmallows and direct you as to where they should go on top of the sweet potatoes. There should be one layer of marshmallows across the top of the entire pan. Stick the pan back in the oven, and cook for 7 minutes, or till the marshmallows have melted and spread. Turn the broiler on and brown the marshmallows for 2-5 minutes, or till the marshmallows are your desired shade of brown.
Pull the pan out of the oven and immediately stick the pecans on top. The gooey caramelized pecans should melt just slightly into the marshmallows and stick there nicely.
***To make the puree, prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Place in the oven on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for an hour, more or less depending on the size of the potatoes you’re using. When they’re soft, pull them out of the oven, cool and then peel away the skins. Puree the sweet potatoes in a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender till very smooth.
