Makes 4 baked sweet potatoes
YouTube instructional video is at the bottom
4 large or medium-sized sweet potatoes (4 pounds)
Sugar
Brown sugar
Salt
Unsalted butter
Vegetable or canola oil
Evaporated milk
Heavy whipping cream
Vanilla extract
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
All-spice
Chopped pecans
Confectioners’ sugar
Tools you’ll need
Hand mixer
Stand mixer.
Aluminum foil
11 by 17-inch or 9 by 13-inch baking pan
Preparation of ingredients
Baking the Sweet potatoes (Part 1)
Step 1- Rinse each sweet potato with cold water. Line a sheet of Aluminum foil into an 11 by 17-inch or 9 by 13-inch baking pan.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 2- Add 1 or 2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil into the palm of your hand and rub the oil onto each sweet potato. From there add them into an 11 by 17-inch or 9 by 13-inch baking pan.
Step 3- Place into a preheated 400-degree oven on the bottom rack for 1 hour and 20 minutes. From there remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. If the sweet potatoes’ skin has a wrinkly appearance, or if you touch the sweet potato, it is soft and if you can insert a fork into each sweet potato easily, they are done. Let cool until warm or completely.
Roasting the pecans
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 4- Add 2/3 cup chopped pecans into an 8 by 8-inch baking pan and shake slightly to make everything even. Place into a preheated 400-degree oven on the bottom rack for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Making the Caramel
Preheat fire to medium heat.
Step 5- Add 2/3 cup sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/3 cup water into a medium-sized pot. Stir all ingredients together. Let simmer for 8 to 10 minutes (without stirring) or until mixture is an amber color.
Turn your fire off.
Step 6- Add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/4 or 1/3 cup heavy whipped cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir all ingredients really well. From there set it aside and let cool completely. The caramel will thicken as it cools. You can thin it out again by heating it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Making the whipped cream
Note- Make sure place your mixing bowl and whisk attachment into the fridge before mixing. Do not attempt to make the whipped cream while your kitchen is hot.
Step 7- Add 1 cup heavy whipping cream (cold), 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/8 teaspoon salt into stand mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until the whipping cream reaches stiff peaks. Place into fridge for 2 to 4 hours before adding it onto your sweet potatoes.
Making the sweet potato filling
Step 8- Cut an oval incision on top of each sweet potato and remove the skin. Carefully dig out the insides of each sweet potato without damaging the outer skin of the sweet potato. From there add the sweet potato insides into a medium-sized bowl. The weight of the sweet potato insides should be close to 2-pounds even.
Step 9- Mash the sweet potato insides with a large sturdy spoon. From there add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 2 or 3 tablespoons caramel, 2 or 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon all spice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir all ingredients really well with a large sturdy spoon.
Note- Repeat this step 5 to 6 times or until the strings no longer appear on the blades of the hand mixer. You can also mix this in a blender as well.
Step 10- Scrape down sides of bowl. Mix with a hand mixer on high speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the mixer from the batter while the blades are still moving and turn the mixer off. The beater blades of the hand mixer will have the sweet potato strings. Rinse the blades off and repeat this step 5 to 6 times or until the blades of the mixer no longer has the sweet potato strings on them.
Baking the sweet potatoes (Part 2)
Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
Step 11- Brush the insides of the sweet potato shells with unsalted butter. Add the sweet potato filling into each sweet potato shell as evenly as possible. Use a sturdy spoon to push the filling into each sweet potato shell.
Step 12- Place into a preheated 350-degree oven for 1 hour. Once the baking time has ended, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. Let cool completely. From there place them into an airtight container or bowl. Let sit in the fridge overnight.
Decorating the sweet potatoes.
Step 13- Add a small amount of whipped cream and chopped pecans on top of each sweet potato. Add caramel into a plastic squeeze bottle. Heat in the microwave with the top off of the plastic bottle for 1 minute. From there add the top on the bottle and drizzle the caramel on top of each sweet potato going in a zig za motion and the caramel is drizzled on top of each sweet potato. From there they are ready to be served.
YouTube instructional video
