Mashed Sweet Potatoes

You may not think you need a recipe for mashed sweet potatoes, but making them the way you would a standard white potato would be a big mistake. Boiling while potatoes helps to remove some of their starch. They are not naturally flavorful anyway, so the boiling process doesn't harm the final taste.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Perfect with Roast Pork Loin

However, a sweet potato is full of flavor and boiling them means losing most of that. So today I'm pan roasting these peeled, sliced sweet potatoes with just a little butter and cream. The result is a flavorful, creamy potato side.  

To make the sweet potatoes special for a holiday or other festive occasion, consider an optional topping of apples, sauteed in a little butter with brown sugar, cinnamon and optional calvados or other fine apple liqueur.

Ingredients

2 pounds sweet potatoes (2 large or 3 medium)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream

Pinch salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
Dash of nutmeg and cinnamon, to taste and optional

Optional Topping

1 apple (sweet variety)

1 tablespoon butter

1 pinch of salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 pinch of cinnamon

2 tablespoons calvados (optional)

Instructions

Peel the sweet potatoes and quarter them. Then slice the pieces 1/4-inch-thick. Place a heavy skillet or Dutch oven with a lid on the cooktop and spray the bottom with cooking oil to lightly coat. Set the heat to medium and add the sliced potatoes. Add butter, 2 tablespoons cream, salt, pepper and sugar. When the potatoes begin to sizzle lightly, stir and reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered until potatoes are fall-apart tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

Off heat, add remaining tablespoon or two of cream and mash sweet potatoes with potato masher or hand mixer until just crushed. Add the optional nutmeg and cinnamon then continue mixing until smooth. Serve with optional topping below.

Optional Topping Instructions

Core the apple but leave the skin on. Cut the apple into small dice. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the apple, butter, salt, brown sugar and optional calvados (apple liqueur) and cook stirring regularly for 2-3 minutes until the apple is tender but not soft and the strong alcohol taste is cooked away. It should have a little crunch left when eating to provide texture to the soft sweet potato dish.