We almost always have puréed sweet potatoes or garnet yams with our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Usually we just bake them, scrape out the insides and mash them with a little butter and brown sugar. My father found a wonderful recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit which includes grated orange peel, lemon juice, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, spices that you would normally find in a hot mulled cider. The spices give the yams a wonderfully festive holiday accent.
Holiday Spiced Sweet Potatoes (Yams) Recipe
Add to shopping list
INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds (about 6 medium sized) red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)
- 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
METHOD
1 Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Pierce sweet potatoes in several places with fork; place on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until tender when pierced with fork, about 55 minutes. Cool slightly.
2 Cut the sweet potatoes in half. Scoop out pulp into large bowl; discard peel. Add brown sugar, butter, lemon juice, grated orange peel, ground cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg to sweet potato pulp. Using an electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth; season with salt and pepper.
Can be made a day ahead.