Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar-Pecan Topping
Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar & Pecans
This dish is another Thanksgiving tradition in our house. It’s simple and can be flavored many ways. Sometimes I will use a splash of Grand Marnier or Bailey’s… other times I’ll use a bit of orange zest… just depends upon what I’m serving and what is on the counter next to me when I’m cooking!
Ingredients
5-6 lbs of red-skinned sweet potatoes (sometimes called yams)
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
5 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon of real vanilla extract
3/4 to 1 cup chopped pecans
optional: splash of either Bailey’s, Grand Marnier or Brandy – but NOT all three!!!
Preheat your oven to 325. Pierce all the potatoes with a fork. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until they are very tender when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and let them cool down.
Take a round baking dish (approx 2-3 qt) and butter it. Cut the potatoes in have and spoon the inside away from the skins into a large bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer) Add 3/4 cup of the brown sugar, the whipping cream, butter, all spices and vanilla. Using an an electric mixer set on medium -beat until smooth. Be careful not to turn the mixer on too high a speed or the potatoes will splatter. You want the potatoes to be smooth. I usually whip them until all the lumps are gone. You may also taste as you prepare this to tweak the flavor you are trying to achieve.
Spoon the whipped mixture into the baking dish. Smooth the top with a spatula. Add the pecans and the remaining brown sugar to completely cover the top of the sweet potatoes. Add more pecans or sugar if needed.
Bake in the oven at 325 until heated through (usually about 30 minutes. Serve hot. It tastes like dessert!!
It is so good… every year I make it, it’s different. That’s the beauty of Thanksgiving side dishes. I have used a splash of orange juice, orange zest and grand marnier.. or baileys… all depends on my mood and how the other side dishes are flavored!
This is really similar to the one that I make and my family loves. I add a little grated orange rind to the sweet potatoes, and use pecan halves arranged in a “parquet” pattern on the top. Yum!
Thanks for your comments, Kristie… The beauty of this dish is the sugar and spice may be added to taste. I add different amounts each time I make it dependent upon the sweetness of the potatoes or the volume of meat per potato. It’s really chef’s delight!
My sis-in-law made this recipe twice before, and really, there’s no point in bringing a pumpkin pie when you’re serving this dish! Your dinner guests will scrape the pan clean! She only used 1/2 cup of sugar in the sweet potatoes, and maybe 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Everything else the same and it was divine!
This sounds good – I like the sound of a smooth-textured sweet-potato dish at the Thanksgiving table. And pecans and brown sugar on top sound mighty fine to me!