The Laughing Wolf

Candied Sweet Potato

Okay, since it was just myself and Clara yesterday (not going to count the other cat I agreed to look after), I cheated and did very little cooking. The one thing I did is a favorite of mine, and I thought I would share the basics of how to candy a yam/sweet potato.

Hardware:
Good skillet with lid
Knife
Cutting Board
Peeler
Fork

Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes/Yams
Light or dark brown sugar
Butter
Kosher salt
Ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg (fresh is best)
Ground clove
Nuts

To Prepare
Peel potatoes and slice into chunks about .75 of an inch. Place in skillet with a pinch of salt and cover with water and 1T of butter. Simmer until tender. Drain water off, place back on heat, and once any remaining water has steamed off, reduce heat to LOW and place in 1-3 sticks of butter. As it is melting, add in lots of brown sugar and let it melt with the butter. Add in a generous amount of good cinnamon (I used several pinches), and a very small pinch each of ground clove and ground nutmeg. Add in roasted nuts (or not, up to you) and stir semi-often. Keep warm on very low heat until all is melted, gooey, rich, and ready to serve.

Rules of thumb: 1 stick of butter for every two potatoes. .25-.5 cup of sugar per potato. Nuts are up to you.

Option: Add a little heavy cream once the heat is OFF and make the sugar/butter mixture into a caramel.

NOTE: Do I really have to mention that you need to taste often and adjust spices including salt accordingly?

Enjoy.

LW