em-Recipe-em-Smashed-Sweet-Potatoes-with-Caramelized-Apple-Topping Stylish Spoon

Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Apple Topping

Next to pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes are my most anticipated dish at Thanksgiving. In my family, we didn’t have just one traditional sweet potato side; the recipe changed each year, depending on who hosted. Some years, the sweet potatoes had a citrusy brightness with a hint of cloves; other years, they were creamy, rich, and topped with pecans lining the edges. But they were always delicious.

When it came time to host my first Thanksgiving, I went through countless sweet potato recipes, trying several until I found the one that feels both warm and comforting without being too heavy.

This version combines sweet potatoes with nutmeg and fresh orange juice and is topped with caramelized apples—like Thanksgiving on a plate. It’s adapted from Ina Garten’s Parties!; I just skip the heavy cream. They’re still luxuriously creamy and just indulgent enough to feel right at home on a Thanksgiving table.

 

Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Apples

Serves 8.

Ingredients
  • 4 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 6 large)
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (you can substitute concentrated)
  • 4 Tbs. unsalted butter (½ stick), melted
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. freshly ground black better

For the topping:

  • 3 Tbs. unsalted butter
  • 3 McIntosh or Macoun apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
  • 3 Tbs. light brown sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick potatoes several times with a knife, wrap each potato individually in tin foil and bake on a baking sheet lined with foil for 1 hour, or until very soft when pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh and place in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add orange juice, butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Mix together until combined but not smooth, and pour into a baking dish coated with nonstick spray.
2. For the topping, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add apple wedges and brown sugar and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned on both sides. Place on top of sweet potatoes.
3. Bake potatoes and apples for 20 to 30 minutes, until heated through.

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