My mother-in-law is famous for her bourbon yams. Amongst the Bierys, the boozy sweet marshmallow topped sweet potato casserole just says Thanksgiving.
The Jaconis don't have a requisite sweet potato dish. (My mom can't have Thanksgiving without sweet pickles and olives.) But one year, circa 1985, my mom made a casserole topped with corn flakes and pecans that I've been thinking about ever since. She, on the other hand, has no memory of this and cannot reproduce the recipe.
Fortunately, it finally occurred to me last week to turn to the Internet. And now I know that everybody makes a corn flake and pecan topped sweet potato casserole. There are 33 variations on this cooking site alone.
So armed with about 52 slightly different recipes, I set about to marry the two family casseroles. I took the bourbon from Cecile's dish and added the corn flakes and pecans from my mom's mythical casserole, cut way back on the sugar that they both called for, and wound up with a thoroughly ho-hum amalgam of the two.
Then I scrapped the whole idea, considered not having any sweet potatoes at all. Perhaps ever again. (Though I'm already thinking about a simple savory gratin for next year. Creamy. With thyme. And maybe roasted garlic?)
But in my search for the perfect casserole, I came across a perfectly kooky dish that is just such an unlikely marriage of our two family traditions, that I couldn't pass it up.
Sweet Potato Balls (in Mrs. Olive Brown's recipe from Talk About Good! The cookbook of the Junior League of Lafayette, Lousiana) or Sweet Potato Puffs (according Mary Birchard of the La Canada Presbyterian Church Cruiser Club). They are essentially the same recipe - a ball of sweet potato puree with a marshmallow smooshed inside and the whole thing coated in corn flakes.
Perfect. And I seriously hope that this is not what my boys pine for.
Sweet Potato Puffs
Makes 12 puffs
- 1 cup sweet potato puree
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon soy milk
- 1/4 cup flour
- a pinch of nutmeg
- 6 marshmallows, cut in half (You can buy Dandies at Locali.)
- about 1 cup crushed corn flakes
Cream together the butter, sugar, corn starch, and soy milk. Add the sweet potato puree, flour, and nutmeg. Beat until well combined. Chill for about an hour.
Heat the oven to 450 and grease a baking sheet. Place the crushed corn flakes on a plate. Spoon about a tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture out onto the corn flakes. Press a marshmallow half into the center of the sweet potato blob. Gently scootch some of the surrounding corn flakes up the sides of the sweet potato blob, push the marshmallow down a little more, and scootch the corn flake covered sweet potato to cover the top. You should now have a nice little ball of corn flake covered sweet potato with a marshmallow hidden in the middle. Place on the prepared cookie sheet and repeat with rest of the ingredients. Spray the tops with a quick mist of cooking spray, and bake for 10 minutes.
Today, obviously, I'm thankful for the moms.
