A LITTLE SOMETHING SWEET
Most of the creativity with the sweet potato that I have witnessed has been in making desserts. The sweet tooth of southerners is legendary, and we live up to the claim. There is seldom a social gathering of any kind—from church supper to family reunion—where the dessert table is not as loaded as the dinner table. Cakes, pies, and puddings too numerous to name have crossed my lips, and many of them have featured sweet potatoes. In my hometown of Vardaman, Mississippi, we even have a specialty shop called Sweet Potato Sweets that ships desserts and confections made from Vardaman sweet potatoes nationwide. The recipes included here are personal, family, and career favorites, including the recipe for Sweet Potato–Ginger Crème Caramels that I created as the pastry chef of the award-winning Lantern Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Those crème caramels won the heart of my editor, Elaine Maisner, and got me the job of writing this book.
“American as apple pie” does not apply to the South. I did not eat my first homemade apple pie, or pumpkin pie for that matter, until I was an adult. I am from sweet potato pie country through and through. This recipe is for the sweet potato pie that most often graced our family table because my sister is the boss, and this is her favorite pie. Without a speck of spice, it stands in stark contrast to traditional pumpkin pies. Its simplicity is a revelation, which heretofore will call into question every pinch of cinnamon you sling. The sweetened condensed milk makes for a creamy, fluffy texture. If you buy ready-made pie shells, the recipe could not be easier. May we never see a store-bought pie at a potluck again!
4 cups mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick melted unsalted butter
4 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 unbaked 9-inch pie shells
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Whisk together all filling ingredients and divide evenly between the pie shells. Bake for 45 minutes or until slightly puffed and set in the center.
Let cool at least 1 hour before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with very lightly sweetened whipped cream.
This recipe is my version of a classic recipe I grew up eating in my mother’s kitchen as well as at church suppers, family reunions, and festivals. It is spiced gently with lemon, vanilla, and cinnamon. I have replaced the more common canned evaporated milk and lemon extract with cream and lemon zest. A pinch of salt and a splash of bourbon make it better still. I also prebake my crust before adding the sweet potato filling to ensure that it is crispy and flaky in contrast to the rich and creamy filling. This recipe is fussier than my sister’s, but it is worth it!
2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
1 blind-baked 9-inch pie shell
Preheat the oven to 325°.
Purée all filling ingredients in a food processor until very smooth. Pour into the cooled pie shell and bake until slightly puffed and set in the center, about 1 hour.
Let cool at least 1 hour before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with very lightly sweetened whipped cream.
This bread pudding was inspired by one at Damon Lapas’s now-defunct Barbecue Joint in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Joint was one of those newfangled barbecue places where the seasonal specials, sides, and desserts are so good you forget about the barbecue. Some of my favorite dishes included pan-seared snapper with caper and herb butter, fried eggplant muffuletta, duck confit salad, and this bread pudding. Mark Hollar was the man behind this creation, and when I went searching for the recipe, I was told there was not one. After getting a few pointers from Damon and drawing on my memory, I created one that does it justice.
FOR THE BREAD PUDDING
7 cups stale bread (about 1 pound), crusts removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), baked (page 15), peeled, and chunked
1/3 cup dried cranberries
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups half-and-half
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 cup cream
3/4 cup milk
1 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons whiskey
1 cup toasted, chopped pecans
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Butter a 9 × 13-inch baking dish, then layer the bread cubes, sweet potato chunks, and dried cranberries.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until well blended. Whisk in the sugar, then add the vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, half-and-half, and melted butter. Pour the custard over the bread mixture. Cover the dish with foil and let it soak a couple of hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the dish from the refrigerator and cut a few holes in the foil with a sharp knife. Bake until the bread pudding puffs up, about 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown.
To make the sauce, heat the cream, milk, brown sugar, and butter in a medium saucepan until almost boiling. Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch and whiskey in a small bowl and stir it into the hot liquid. Boil gently for 1 minute until thickened and stir in the pecans and salt just before serving.
Serve the bread pudding hot, topped with the sauce. Unlike most desserts, this one reheats beautifully—even in the microwave.
I grew up with cheesecake out of a box topped with canned pie filling. My mother made many desserts from scratch, but cheesecake was never one of them. It did not belong to us, and we did not know any better. Real New York cheesecake is another thing entirely. It is impossibly tall and a study in contradictions—dense and rich yet light.
This recipe is the perfect marriage of two really good things: southern sweet potato pie and New York cheesecake. It is the kind of dessert you cannot resist shaving off slither after slither every time you open the refrigerator. The fact that it only gets better after a few days in the refrigerator makes it an ideal make-ahead holiday dessert—just be sure you hide it!
FOR THE CRUST
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE FILLING
2 pounds cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 350°.
To make the crust, combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and press into the bottom and a few inches up the sides of a very lightly buttered 9 1/2-inch springform pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 10–15 minutes, then bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack while you prepare the filling.
To make the filling, turn the oven up to 500°. Yes, really. Beat the cream cheese until very smooth, then beat in the remaining ingredients and pour the filling into the crust. The filling will come up to the top of the pan. If you have too much filling, you can bake the excess in a ramekin as a treat for the cook.
Set the cheesecake on a larger baking sheet to catch any drips and bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown on top. Then turn the oven down to 200° and cook for about 1 hour, or until it is set around the edges but a bit wobbly in the center. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight before serving. This will keep for over a week in the refrigerator.
If the cheesecake cracks, you can repair it easily by spreading a thin layer of lightly sweetened sour cream over the top. Blackberries, cherries, and blueberries, either as a compote or fresh, can also be used as a topping.
Sonker is a regional name for a deep-dish cobbler that is popular around Mount Airy, North Carolina. Peach and sweet potato are two favorite varieties. As with all cobblers, there are many variations. Some are cakelike, some are biscuit-topped, and some are topped with piecrust. My favorite version includes both a top and a bottom crust. The bottom crust poaches dumpling-like during cooking. A milk sauce, known locally as milk dip, is poured over the top of the cobbler as it bakes and caramelizes around the edges. Watch Les Blank’s 1983 documentary Sprout Wings and Fly about Surry County, North Carolina, fiddler Tommy Jarrell, and you will see Jarrell’s girlfriend, Corinna Bowden, take a bubbling sonker out of the oven. Better yet, make your own to eat while you watch it!
Enough dough for three 9-inch pies (store-bought is fine), divided in half
8 medium sweet potatoes (about 4 pounds), peeled
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sorghum molasses
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sweet potato cooking water
3 cups milk, divided
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Line the bottom of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish with half the pie dough and refrigerate. If using store-bought pie rounds, piece together 1 1/2 rounds to cover the bottom of the dish.
Place the whole sweet potatoes in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Cover with cold water and season with the salt. Cover and simmer until the sweet potatoes are completely tender. Transfer the sweet potatoes to a plate. Reserve the cooking water. When cool, slice the sweet potatoes as thinly as possible without breaking them up.
Preheat the oven to 375°. Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and layer the sliced sweet potatoes on top of the dough. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, sorghum molasses, flour, and butter with 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water and pour over the sweet potatoes. Use the remaining pie dough to form a lattice-top crust. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until brown.
In a medium saucepan, whisk 1/2 cup of the milk into the cornstarch until completely dissolved, then whisk in the remaining milk and the sugar. Boil gently for 1 minute to thicken, then remove from heat and add the vanilla.
When the sonker is golden brown, remove it from the oven, pour 2 cups of the milk dip over the whole thing, and cook for another 15 minutes or until caramelized around the edges and brown on top. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving—the milk will continue to be absorbed and to thicken. Pass the remaining warm sauce in a small pitcher with the cobbler.
I adore chestnuts almost as much as sweet potatoes. Chestnuts have a similar flavor to sweet potatoes, particularly the drier, white-fleshed varieties, such as Japanese sweet potatoes. It is said that at the turn of the century a squirrel could travel from Alabama to Maine on the limbs of chestnut trees without ever touching the ground. It is one of the great ecological tragedies of American history that the majestic American chestnut succumbed to blight and was almost completely wiped out by 1950. Great efforts are in the works to establish a blight-resistant American chestnut, but in the meantime, small, diversified farms like High Rock Farm in Rougemont, North Carolina, are growing hybrid Asian American varieties. The trees are much smaller than native American chestnuts, with substantially lower yields, but the chestnuts taste superb. I first developed this recipe as a pastry chef to utilize locally grown chestnuts, but they are still difficult to find. This version relies on imported chestnut purée, which can be found at gourmet markets or online. For even more chestnut flavor and to make the dish gluten-free, you can use chestnut flour in place of all-purpose flour.
FOR THE PUDDING
4 large eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup mashed white-fleshed sweet potatoes (page 14), such as Japanese or O’Henry
1 cup chestnut purée or unsweetened chestnut paste
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/4 cup all-purpose flour or chestnut flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Seeds and pulp from 1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup brandy or other brown liqueur
Powdered sugar
FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE (MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS)
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons light corn syrup or agave nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 375°.
To make the pudding, in a large bowl, beat the eggs with the brown sugar and salt until well combined. Whisk in the mashed sweet potatoes, chestnut purée or paste, and half-and-half. Fold in the flour. Melt the butter in a skillet until the foaming subsides and it begins to brown and smell toasty. Fold the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pudding along with the browned butter and brandy.
Butter a 1 1/2-quart casserole and pour in the pudding. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, to make the chocolate sauce, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, corn syrup or agave nectar, and cocoa powder and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 1 minute and remove from heat. Whisk in the butter, chocolate, vanilla, and salt. Let cool briefly to thicken. The sauce will keep for weeks in the refrigerator. Warm gently before serving.
Allow the pudding to cool for 20 minutes before serving. It will fall slightly. Sprinkle the pudding lightly with powdered sugar and serve it with warm chocolate sauce.
Want a dazzling dessert that showcases sweet potatoes simply but in an entirely new way? This is it. Caramel can be a little nerve-wracking to work with if you have never made it, but with a little patience, it is easily mastered. This tart is best served within several hours of making it. You can do as the French do and serve it with a dollop of crème fraiche, but no one will complain if you go all-American and serve it up with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to sop up the luscious caramel.
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Seeds and pulp from 1 vanilla bean
Circle of puff pastry 10 1/2 inches in diameter
Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the bottom of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and dot with the butter.
Starting at the outside edge of the skillet, layer the sweet potato slices in a concentric circle. Crowd them so they are almost standing up in a neat overlapping pattern that covers the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the water and lemon juice and sprinkle with the salt. Scatter the seeds from the vanilla bean over the top and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sweet potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the excess water evaporates and the sugars begin to caramelize. Use a spoon to baste the sweet potatoes from time to time and gently shake the pan so they caramelize evenly. When the sugar reaches a dark golden color, remove the pan from the heat. You can drop a spoonful of caramel on a white plate to better gage the color if you are unsure. If the caramel seems to be darkening unevenly, use a spoon or silicone spatula to stir it.
Top the sweet potatoes with the puff pastry, pushing it down a bit to keep it in place. Place the skillet on the baking sheet to catch any spills and bake until golden brown on top, 20–25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack 15–20 minutes. Then place a large, rimmed platter over the top of the skillet and hold it firmly as you quickly but carefully invert it using oven mitts. Be very careful to avoid spilling the hot caramel. Serve hot or warm.
I have a well-stocked liquor cabinet, but I rarely drink the hard stuff. I do, however, frequently use brown liquor in baking. The warming caramel notes counterbalance sweetness beautifully. Here, I take the extra step of plumping raisins in dark rum to turn familiar sweet potato quickbread into something festive.
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup dark rum
2 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups toasted and chopped walnuts
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour 3 loaf pans.
Place the raisins in a small container and add the rum. Steep for at least 1 hour, tossing occasionally.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed sweet potatoes, oil, vanilla, eggs, and sugar.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just blended. Fold in the raisins (with the rum) and the walnuts. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake 45–50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack in the pans about 10 minutes, then gently remove from the pans and transfer to the wire rack to cool completely.
This is a delicate and delicious alternative to sweet potato pie. Preparing the custards in individual ramekins makes them feel extra-special. I have made them in disposable aluminum tins by the hundreds for parties, including a Generation Next lunch at the 2007 Southern Foodways Alliance symposium, where University of North Carolina Press editor Elaine Maisner fell in love with them. Later, when we were discussing the possibility of my writing this book, she asked me more than once, “And you’ll include the recipe for the crème caramels, right?” Without further ado, here it is.
FOR THE CARAMEL
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
FOR THE CUSTARD
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped ginger
2 (1-inch-wide) strips of orange zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
To make the caramel, combine the sugar and water in a small, heavy saucepan and cook over high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar is a deep amber color, about 8 minutes. Immediately divide among the ramekins. Tilt the cups so the bottoms are evenly covered with caramel.
To make the custard, place the milk, cream, ginger, and orange zest in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover and set aside to steep for 1 hour. Pour through a strainer and discard the solids.
Place the eggs, egg yolk, mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl and mix to combine. Do not whip because you do not want to add too much air to your custard base. Add the cooled, strained milk and mix to combine.
Pour the custard through a strainer and discard any solids. Pour the strained custard into the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins in a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Add enough hot water to the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the dish with foil and vent by cutting several 1-inch slits in the top of the foil with a sharp knife. Transfer to the oven and bake until the custards are just set in the center, about 40 minutes. They should jiggle uniformly but not ripple. The custards should not puff or brown at all. Cool to room temperature and place plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 2 days before serving.
To serve, run a sharp knife around the edge of the ramekins to loosen and invert each custard onto a plate. Serve with a crisp cookie.
Fried pies, sometimes called mule ears, are a nearly forgotten old southern favorite. They were almost gone by the time I was making the family reunion circuit. Children of my generation usually passed them by for the newfangled Betty Crocker–type chocolate desserts, but my father gets misty-eyed when talking about them. They were the prized dessert of his childhood.
This recipe restores the fried pie to its original glory. A bit of lard in the crust produces incredibly flaky and easy-to-handle dough. Frying the pies in a cast-iron skillet in lard from pastured pigs produces a deeply satisfying flavor that cannot be replicated with cheap vegetable oil and a deep fryer. With simple farmstead recipes, using the highest-quality ingredients is essential. Only then can the tastes of our collective past be revived.
FOR THE PASTRY
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup unbleached pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chilled lard, unsalted butter, or nonhydrogenated shortening, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup ice water, plus a few extra teaspoons if needed
FOR THE FILLING
2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1/4 cup sorghum molasses or brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 quart vegetable oil or lard for frying
To make the pastry, combine the flours and salt in a large bowl. Add the lard, butter, or shortening and blend together with a pastry blender or 2 knives. Continue cutting the fat into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse meal. Add the cold water and mix it just until the dough starts to clump together. Add more water by the teaspoonful if needed to get the dough to come together in a ball. Being careful not to overwork the dough, gather it into a ball, flatten it into a disc, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
To make the filling, mix the mashed sweet potatoes with the sorghum molasses or brown sugar, butter, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for 5 minutes to make it pliable. Divide the disc into 12 balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 5–6-inch circle.
Place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each circle. Fold the dough over the filling create a half-moon shape and crimp the edges well with a fork that has been dipped in flour. Be sure that the edges are completely sealed. If the edges do not match up exactly, you can use a pizza cutter or paring knife to trim them. The pies can be frozen at this point and cooked frozen, if desired.
Fill a heavy Dutch oven or iron skillet about halfway with the vegetable oil or lard. Heat to 350°.
Carefully place the pies in the hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. When golden brown on one side, gently flip them with a slotted spatula or spoon. Cook until golden brown on both sides and remove to a wire rack to drain. Draining the pies on a rack makes them crisper than draining them on paper towels.
Repeat until all the pies are cooked. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain the oil temperature at 350°.
I sometimes dust the finished pies with powdered sugar before serving, though my father does not approve. You decide. The pies are good warm or at room temperature.
If ooey-gooey is your thing, these blondies are for you. In addition to the typical brown sugar flavor, these blondies have a healthy dose of sweet potatoes and spice. The sticky sweetness is balanced with toasty browned butter, and almond butter or peanut butter makes them extra chewy.
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tablespoons almond butter or peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup toffee pieces
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour an 8 × 8-inch baking pan.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Watch it closely as it foams and then subsides. Keep it simmering until it begins to brown on the bottom and smells toasty. Remove from heat and let cool to just warm. Stir in the almond or peanut butter, brown sugar, mashed sweet potatoes, spices, vanilla, egg, and salt. Whisk well, then gently stir in the flour. Fold in the nuts and toffee pieces.
Pour into the baking pan and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Err on the side of underbaking. You want these gooey! Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting and serving.
VARIATION * Chestnut–Chocolate Chip Blondies: Use white or Japanese sweet potatoes. Omit the cinnamon, ginger, walnuts, and toffee pieces. Replace the all-purpose flour with chestnut flour and add 1 cup chocolate chips.
Smooth ice cream contrasts with chewy marshmallow in this youthful take on marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole. The whites left over from making the egg custard ice cream base are used to make a quick homemade marshmallow crème that you broil until slightly charred like a campfire marshmallow. You then stir this marshmallow crème into the ice cream at the end of the churning cycle. Summer and Thanksgiving collide!
FOR THE ICE CREAM BASE
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Zest of 1 lemon, cut into strips with a vegetable peeler
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
FOR THE MARSHMALLOW CRÈME
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
Seeds and pulp from 1 vanilla bean
Pinch of kosher salt
Bring the half-and-half, cream, brown sugar, spices, and lemon zest to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover tightly, and set aside to steep for 30 minutes.
Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk in the sugar and salt. Whisk vigorously until the yolks lighten in color slightly, about 1 minute.
Remove the cinnamon and lemon zest from the cream, then slowly pour it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon or reaches 170°. Remove from heat and whisk in the mashed sweet potatoes. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve into a clean bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly chilled.
Meanwhile, prepare the marshmallow crème. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a stainless steel (or copper) bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, seeds from the vanilla bean, and salt. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Be sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the surface of the water. Whisk the egg whites constantly until they turn opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Spread the mixture out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Broil until slightly charred on the surface. Use a spatula to flip sections of the marshmallow crème and char the other side. It will not look pretty, but no worries.
Freeze the base according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is firm and almost ready, add the charred marshmallow crème by the tablespoonful with the machine running. Freeze another couple of hours in your freezer to harden before serving.
My favorite desserts are of the cool and creamy variety. Anyone who has ever eaten sweet potato casserole straight out of the refrigerator knows that sweet potatoes have great potential in this category! Here I offer a sweet potato twist on banana pudding, featuring delicately spiced sweet potato custard layered with gingersnaps and topped with giant swoops of meringue. Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner makes the best banana pudding on the planet, which is the basis for this recipe. He utilizes whole eggs in his pastry cream instead of just yolks, resulting in a lighter, fluffier pudding. However, you will have to crack extra eggs to get the whites you need for the meringue. You can use the extra yolks in another recipe.
FOR THE PUDDING
1 lemon
3 1/2 cups half-and-half, divided
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean
5 tablespoons cornstarch
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (page 14)
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), baked (page 15), peeled, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 (1-pound) box of gingersnaps
5 large egg whites
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cinnamon
Wash the lemon in hot, soapy water and rinse well. With a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemon in long strips from top to bottom, being careful not to get too much of the bitter white pith. Reserve the peeled lemon for another use.
In a medium saucepan, combine the lemon zest, 3 cups of the half-and-half, the cinnamon stick, and the vanilla bean, halved lengthwise. Bring the mixture to a very gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 1 hour.
In a 3-quart bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the remaining 1/2 cup of half-and-half until totally dissolved, then whisk in the eggs, sugar, and salt until very well combined.
Strain the steeped half-and-half directly into the cornstarch mixture and whisk to combine. Transfer back to the saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture registers 170° or thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Quickly remove from heat and whisk in the mashed sweet potatoes. If the mixture is lumpy or curdles, strain it through a fine to medium strainer into a bowl. Whisk in the butter a couple of tablespoons at a time. Be sure the butter is completely melted and blended well before proceeding.
Pour a cup of the custard into a trifle bowl or a 3-quart glass casserole or baking dish and coat the bottom and sides of the dish with it. Line the bottom of the dish and the sides with gingersnaps. Top with a third of the pudding mixture, then a layer of sliced, baked sweet potatoes, then another layer of gingersnaps, custard, and sweet potatoes. Finish with a third layer of gingersnaps and a thin layer of custard on top.
To make the meringue, preheat the oven to 325°. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a stainless steel (or copper) bowl, combine the egg whites and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the surface of the water. Whisk the egg whites constantly until they turn opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the cream of tartar, and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the vanilla.
Top the pudding with the meringue, using the back of a spoon to make dramatic swirls, peaks, and spikes. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with the nutmeg and cinnamon and sprinkle over the meringue. Brown the meringue in the oven for 20–25 minutes or until the peaks are nice and toasty. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight so the custard soaks into the cookies.