Sweet Potato Casserole

By Patlynn

Nothing against the marshmallow-topped version, but we wanted an elegant, simple sweet potato dish for the holiday table. We wrapped cubed potatoes seasoned with brown sugar in foil and baked them until they were soft. The food processor ensured a perfectly smooth puree, and butter and cream added richness, while cinnamon, orange zest, and a pinch of cayenne rounded out the flavors. Finally, a simple topping sprinkled over the casserole and a quick turn under the broiler created a crisp, caramelized crust.

Ingredients

• Be sure to use a broiler-safe soufflé dish.
• Ingredients1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest plus 2 tablespoons juice
• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon orange zest together in small bowl until thoroughly combined; set aside.
2. Lay two 24 by 12-inch sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil perpendicular to each other inside rimmed baking sheet. Place sweet potatoes in center of foil and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Fold opposite sides of foil toward each other and crimp edges to seal tightly. Put baking sheet in oven and bake until sweet potatoes are tender, about 60 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and heat broiler.
3. Carefully open 1 end of foil pouch, taking care to avoid escaping steam, and pour potatoes and accumulated liquid into food processor. Add butter, cream, orange juice, salt, cinnamon, remaining 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, pepper, and cayenne and process until completely smooth, 30 to 60 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
4. Transfer potato puree to 2-quart soufflé dish and sprinkle evenly with reserved sugar-zest mixture. Broil sweet potatoes until topping is lightly browned and bubbling, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve.
TO MAKE AHEAD: Processed potatoes can be refrigerated without topping for up to 2 days. To serve, cover dish with aluminum foil and bake on middle rack of 400-degree oven until hot throughout, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil, add brown sugar topping, and broil as directed in step 4.


Handy Foil Packet


Cooking the sweet potatoes in a sealed foil packet helps concentrate their flavor, and 1 tablespoon of sugar encourages them to caramelize. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, the packet becomes a handy vessel for dumping the hot potatoes into the food processor.


PEEL, CUBE, WRAP: Then your sweet potato prep is done.