Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe | My Baking Addiction (2024)

FAQs

Why do you put eggs in sweet potato casserole? ›

The egg is the all-important binder in a sweet potato casserole: it enriches and stiffens the mixture without making it heavy. Make sure to cool the mash slightly before adding the egg so it doesn't scramble, and to stir well so there are no streaks of cooked egg white in the finished dish.

It is generally considered healthier to bake sweet potato fries rather than fry them. Baking allows you to cook the fries using little to no oil, whereas frying typically requires a large amount of oil. This can make baked sweet potato fries lower in fat and calories than fried ones.

Most people point to a 1917 pamphlet by the Angelus Marshmallow Company as the first time sweet potatoes and marshmallows came together. This company is believed to be the first to commercially-produce and sell the squishy white marshmallows we know, roast, and snack on today.

The difference is that sweet potato casserole can either have a toasted marshmallow top or a crunchy brown sugar/nut top and is made with brown sugar in the casserole. Sweet potato pie is made with white sugar, has nothing on top, but can be served with whipped topping.

The cold water bath helps rinse the starch off the sweet potatoes so they're a bit more crispy. That said, if you do not have the time, you can still get crispy baked sweet potato fries by using high heat and a little drizzle of olive oil.

Eggs and cream help stabilize the dish and prevent it from becoming too runny (a common complaint with many sweet potato casserole recipes). Make it as smooth or chunky as you like!

As with boiling, calories, carbohydrate and fat were higher in the baked sweet potato per 100g, but protein was higher in the baked white potato (2.2 g vs 1.6g per 100g). Baked sweet potatoes contained more than double the fibre of the regular potato, with less starch but a lot more sugar.

In other words… do sweet potatoes need parboiling before roasting? Absolutely not. While many might choose to parboil the sweet potatoes before cooking for a shorter cooking time, we advise against it. Roasting sweet potatoes bring out their caramelized flavor yet leave the inside soft and custardy.

Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.

Spoiler: They're not the same vegetable.

That's because sweet potatoes and yams are in fact very different vegetables that we've come to refer to interchangeably for a number of reasons over the years. While a dish may arrive at your table calling itself "candied yams," it may well have been made with sweet potatoes.

Why do African Americans eat sweet potato pie? ›

After emancipation, when African American cooks gained more access to their own equipment and refined ingredients, they continued the tradition of baking with yams and sweet potatoes — especially the pie. These deep roots became the foundation of a strong tradition in African American food culture.

China is the world's biggest producer and consumer of sweetpotato, where it is used for food, animal feed, and processing (as food, starch, and other products).

Many contend the traditional southern dish is 100 percent a dessert, because its served in a pie crust. But others argue sweet potatoes are vegetables, regardless of the crust, and nobody considers meat pies dessert.

I've always baked them. Baking them retains more of their natural sweetness, boiling them most of the sugars go in to the water and is typically lost. You can still mash them by scooping the flesh from the backed skin and mashing it to make a casserole.

Casseroles need a textural component that helps the fillings stick together, even after you plop a slice on your plate. By themselves, eggs do a decent job of holding everything in, but a little dairy definitely improves the overall stickiness and texture of any egg casserole.

Eggs play an important role in everything from cakes and cookies to meringues and pastry cream — they create structure and stability within a batter, they help thicken and emulsify sauces and custards, they add moisture to cakes and other baked goods, and can even act as glue or glaze.

Choose orange sweet potatoes for the best flavor and sweetness. Brown sugar adds a depth of flavor with a hint of molasses and helps create a caramel-like sauce. All-purpose flour will help thicken the sauce and give some structure.

Their ability to hold up to four times their weight in moisture makes eggs a good thickener for sauces, custards and curds. The proteins in eggs coagulate or set at different temperatures.