Lemon Sweet Potatoes with Meringue Topping
(Recipe from The Big Book of Sides, published by Ballantine Books. Photo by Ben Fink.)
Every autumn, I hear heated arguments about the role of sweet potatoes on the holiday table. Some people love the classic candied yams with marshmallows, others hate (revile, despise, and abhor) them. The way most families make them is very simple: canned yams in syrup are spread in a baking dish, heated, and topped with marshmallows. This is perfect evidence of Grandma Rodgers’ statement: “Thanksgiving is the easiest meal of the year!” Well, the way she made it, with lots of canned and frozen ingredients, it was!
I much prefer fresh sweet potatoes (or call them yams, if you wish) with a fluffy marshmallow-like meringue topping. Whenever I serve it, it gets high points for both the nostalgia factor and its not-too-sweet flavor. (Recipe from The Big Book of Sides, published by Ballantine Books.)
| Servings |
8
|
- 3 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the baking dish
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 large egg yolks (reserve the whites)
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Ingredients
Purée
Meringue
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- To make the purée: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF. Lightly butter a 9-inch ceramic quiche dish or glass pie plate.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes, but do not peel them. Pierce each one a few times with a fork and put them on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until they are tender when pierced with the tip of a small sharp knife, about 50 minutes. (The roasting time will depend on the size and bulk of the sweet potatoes.) Let them cool until easier to handle, about 15 minutes.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and put the flesh in a medium bowl. Add the heavy cream, brown sugar, butter, lemon zest and juice, and nutmeg. Using a hand-held electric mixer on medium speed, whip the mixture until smooth. Beat in the yolks. Spread the purée in the baking dish.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF. Bake the purée until it is set and barely beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. (The sweet potato base can be cooled, covered with aluminum foil, and refrigerated for up to 1 day. Reheat, covered, in a preheated 350ºF oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Uncover the purée.)
- To make the meringue: Using the mixer with clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form (see Note). Gradually beat in the sugar until the mixture forms stiff, shiny peaks. Using a spoon, spread and swirl the meringue over the purée.
- Bake until the meringue is touched with golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Note: This dish is easiest to make with an electric hand-held mixer. I love my standing mixer, but it is too large for some jobs. For example, the amount of egg whites for the meringue is too small to beat efficiently in the mixer’s large bowl, and a hand-mixer works much better.
Variation: Orange Sweet Potatoes with Meringue Topping: Substitute orange zest and juice for the lemon zest and juice.
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