A Southern Girl’s Survival Guide to Thanksgiving: Sweet Potatoes with Praline Topping

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition
November 2012

We all know that Thanksgiving is a day of indulgence. Well, I’m about to share the best sweet potato casserole recipe with y’all.

This recipe isn’t exactly one for the health nuts, but I am going to say that the creamy texture of the sweet potatoes and the sweet, crunchy pralines create the perfect contrast. My grandfather requests that I make this every year!

Sweet Potatoes with Praline Topping

For Praline topping:

(This is Paula Deen’s praline recipe and it’s a good one!)

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan.
Put the sugars, salt, corn syrup, milk, and butter in saucepan. Over medium heat, stir mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until sugars have dissolved and mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook to a soft ball stage, approximately 236 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (If you do a cold water test, drizzle a drop of candy into a glass of cold water, the ball of candy will flatten between your fingers when you take it out of the water.) Remove from heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
Add the vanilla and nuts, and beat with a spoon by hand for approximately 2 minutes or until candy is slightly thick and begins to lose its gloss.
Quickly drop heaping tablespoons onto waxed paper. If the candy becomes stiff, add a few drops of hot water.

For creamy sweet potatoes:

4-5 sweet potatoes, scrubbed with skin still on
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a pot of hot water, add sweet potatoes (leaving skins on) and boil until soft.
Drain the water and allow sweet potatoes to cool.
With a knife, peel skins off of potatoes. Note: The skins should easily come off.
Add butter and mash potatoes until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients and continue mashing until you reach the desired consistency.
Take pralines (after taste testing them, of course) and crumble them on top of sweet potatoes taking measures to cover the entire dish.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper's Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals. When a catastrophic collapse cripples society, grocery store shelves will empty within days. But if you follow this book's plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply, your family will have plenty to eat for weeks, months or even years. Visit her web site at ReadyNutrition.com.

This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition

Author: Tess Pennington
Author's Web Site: http://www.readynutrition.com
Made Available By: Ready Nutrition
Date: November 17th, 2012

Related Categories: Dinner, Recipes