Holiday Sweet Potato Casserole: A Family Favorite

Every sweet potato casserole recipe is different. This one has fruity surprises folded into it--cranberries at Thanksgiving and Christmas, raisins at Halloween, jellybeans at Easter, etc. As a family favorite, it doubles as a dessert. At holiday potlucks, it is sure to bring comment.

Attending get-togethers as a man, I was usually asked to bring dinner rolls, chips, sodas or a plate of finger food from the deli. But one day I made a casserole, and they’ve asked me to bring the same thing ever since.

That’s boring, so I try to vary it every time. The first step, of course, is to gather the ingredients. I didn’t measure anything this time, but here’s what I have written down:

Ingredients

• 3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and cut up
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup butter or olive oil
• ¼ cup sugar, preferably dark brown
• ½ t. cinnamon
• ¼ t. nutmeg
• ¼ t. salt
• ¼ cup pecans, chopped (or walnuts, baked 5–10 min.)

Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ Ξ

• 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped (optional)
• 1/3 cup cranberries, craisins or raisins (optional)
• 1/3 cup marshmallows (optional)

The next step is to peel the sweet potatoes, cut them up and cook them in the water. In a pot, bring the water to a boil and then turn it down to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until tender. One cup is not much water, so keep it covered and be sure that it doesn’t boil away. You don’t want to have a lot of excess, though, because we’ll use the water and preserve the vitamins.

While that’s simmering, you can prepare any optional ingredients. The key here is to add ingredients that will contrast with the potato in sweetness, tartness, texture or color. Chunks of apple are an example that I almost always include. Peel, core and cut it up into chunks about 1/2”. If you use pecans or walnuts, chop them into pieces about 1/8–1/4”. Any finer than that doesn’t noticeably add texture.

When the sweet potatoes are cooked, combine them in a mixing bowl with the cooking water and all ingredients except fruits, marshmallows or any other soft “surprises.” Mash this thoroughly.

Start layering the mixture into a casserole dish, sprinkling in a couple of layers of apples, cranberries, raisins, marshmallows, jellybeans, red-hots, whole pecans, whatever surprise your particular event calls for. Be creative, but conservative. It’s hard to put in too much apple, but for anything else, too little is better than too much.

Bake at 350° for 20-40 minutes. The time depends on how moist the mixture is and how warm it is by the time you get it into the oven. This can prepared the day before and baked the next day, which would require more baking time to heat all the way through. Raw cranberries seem to require a minimum of 20 minutes to soften.

The last 10 minutes, scatter a few marshmallows on top. Make a smiley face, spell out his initials, whatever. Then put it back in uncovered until they just begin to turn golden brown on top.