Southern Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes)
This recipe for slightly sweet, spiced, and orange-flavored, Southern candied yams (sweet potatoes) is a wonderful alternative to traditional sweet potato casserole on your holiday table.
Southern candied yams (sweet potatoes): a family tradition
This is my Mom's recipe for Southern candied sweet potatoes (although we always called them candied yams). It is a dish that reminds me of the Holiday Season.
She traditionally makes these candied yams for Thanksgiving. But, to me, it's the perfect fall or winter dish, not just for the holidays.
The orange and spice sauce compliment the sweet potatoes. And the dish is just sweet enough to still consider it a vegetable side dish and not dessert.
What's the difference between yams and sweet potatoes?
While my family always called this dish "candied yams" the reality was, we were actually using sweet potatoes.
Yes, even the orange-colored root vegetable in the grocery store that grocers label 'yam' is actually a sweet potato.
While grocers have labeled long, red-skinned sweet potatoes as 'yams' for years, they are actually just one particular variety of sweet potatoes.
Yams, on the other hand (while they are a starchy, edible root) have rough and scaly skin with white (or light-colored) flesh inside. They taste more like a potato, and definitely not as sweet as a sweet potato.
Why do people call sweet potatoes yams?
So why has my family (and many others) been calling sweet potatoes yams for years?
When producers and shippers introduced orange-hued sweet potatoes in the US, they wanted to distinguish them from the white sweet potatoes already common in America. that Americans were used to. So, they decided to call them 'yams', which is the English form of the word 'nyami' in different West African languages.
Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes (Candied Yams)
Ingredients
- 3 large sweet potatoes
- 4 oranges, zested and juiced (roughly 1 c juice)
- ⅓ - ½ cup brown sugar (depending on your sweetness preference)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅓ cup brandy or spiced rum
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Boil unpeeled yams or potatoes in water for 20 minutes or until almost tender.
- While the yams are cooking, combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring; simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Transfer the cooked potatoes to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and to loosen the skins. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel them, and cut them in thirds. Place the potatoes in a shallow 8x8 baking dish that has been rubbed with butter.
- Pour warm sauce over potatoes in the baking dish.
- Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 45 min -1 hour, basting often to glaze well; (approximately every 15 minutes).
- Potatoes are done when very tender and the sauce is bubbly and has reduced slightly.
Notes
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
yumm
Love it. I grew up with this a part of my mothers thanksgiving menu