When I was a teacher, I often said that I wished I could have a day or so to audit my colleagues’ classes, just to get a feel for their style and methods.
I had a bucket list of people I would have loved to sit in on to learn some tricks of the trade.
One of those people is Mindy Barter, the contributor of this week’s recipe and a former colleague of mine at Haven High School.
It’s no surprise to me that she chose a recipe for sweet potatoes that has just the right amount of sugar and is a little different from the way everyone else makes them. I think that’s kind of her style in life, too.
Mindy, who is from Newton, said, “This is from my mother in law. This has been a favorite of my family’s for a long, long time.”
After making this and sharing it with some friends, I can tell you I totally understand why.
Sweet Potato Soufflé
Ingredients
Topping Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup butter melted
Soufflé Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs well beaten,
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a medium-size casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- For the topping, combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Chill in the fridge until ready to use. This helps the crumble maintain its form and not melt into the sweet potatoes.
- For the soufflé, combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a large mixing bowl in the order listed. Beat thoroughly with a hand mixer for about three to four minutes to increase the fluffiness of the sweet potato mixture. Add a splash of milk, if needed, and mix.
- Pour mixture into the baking dish (I use around a two-quart dish). Bake for 25 minutes. At this point, the dish can be covered and refrigerated for a couple of days, if making ahead of time.
- (If you refrigerated ahead of time, make sure to reheat the potatoes again before adding the topping—around 10 to 20 minutes.)
- Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the topping mixture and return to oven for 10 to 20 minutes or until crumble is browned. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.
- The brown sugar and pecan crust should be slightly browned and crunchy. Makes 10 servings.
We really, really liked this. Beating the sweet potato mixture made it nice and light, which was a great contrast to the caramelized, crunchy topping. This one will have to go into my recipe box for future gatherings.
And, after trying out this recipe, I’m not only disappointed I didn’t get to sit in on any of Mindy’s classes, but now I’m pretty sure I need to try to observe her in the kitchen, too. Maybe one day.
This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 19, 2024.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
