Inside Out Sweet Potatoes

By stancec44

Inside-out sweet potatoes are crazily clever little bombs of sweet, gooey deliciousness that are perhaps better suited to no other day of the year than Thanksgiving. They’re essentially an irreverent and savvily deconstructed approach to everyone’s favorite iconic sweet potato casserole. Not only are the gooey, crunchy, buttery little bursts of melted marshmallow irresistible to children, they’re also ridiculously tempting for adults.

Ingredients

• 6 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 tablespoon bourbon, sherry, or vanilla extract
• 1 cup crushed cornflakes
• 8 large or jumbo marshmallows
• Canola oil, for frying (1 1/2 cups)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Grab a fork and pierce each sweet potato several times all over. Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Bake until the sweet potatoes are tender and easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 40 minutes, depending on the size of the sweet potatoes. Allow the sweet potatoes to cool in their skins. When cool enough to handle, use a knife to halve the potatoes lengthwise and then scoop out the insides from the skins into a bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork or potato masher until smooth.

3. Combine the mashed sweet potatoes with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder, flour, orange juice, and bourbon, sherry, or vanilla extract.

4. Place the crushed cornflakes in a shallow dish or pie plate. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl.

5. Working with your hands, smother each marshmallow with some of the sweet potato mixture, forming a ball. If the sweet potato mixture seems too soft to hold its shape, stir in some of the cornflake crumbs to thicken it. (You can cover and refrigerate the sweet potato-smothered marshmallows for up to 24 hours.) Dip each ball in the egg and then roll it in the crumbs. Refrigerate just until the oil is hot.

6. Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat until it registers 375°F (190°C) on a deep-fry or candy or instant-read thermometer. Place a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C).

7. Fry the inside-out sweet potatoes a couple at a time, turning as needed, until lightly browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the wire rack and transfer the entire baking sheet and wire rack to the oven to keep the inside-out sweet potatoes warm while you’re frying the rest. Serve warm.

BAKED INSIDE-OUT SWEET POTATOES VARIATION
If you have the oven space on Thanksgiving, you can skip the time-consuming deep-frying and bake these little lovelies instead. [Editor’s Note: We know, we know, everything is better fried. But we have this on good authority—actually, it’s from cookbook author Martha Hall Foose, who developed this recipe herself.] Simply follow steps 1 through 3 per the recipe above and then preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper and generously spray the inside-out sweet potatoes with nonstick cooking spray. Bake until browned.