Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
A soft, souffle like Southern cornmeal side dish with roasted sweet potato, scooped from the baking dish with a spoon. Never gritty, never sliced.
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
For the Spoon Bread
- 1 ¾ pounds sweet potatoes about 3 medium, roasted, for 1 ½ cups mash
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- ¾ cup finely ground yellow cornmeal not coarse or stone ground
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 large eggs separated
Instructions
Roast the Sweet Potatoes
- Prick the sweet potatoes and roast them whole, directly on the oven rack, at 400 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance. Do not boil them.
- Split them open, let them steam off for 5 minutes, then scoop and mash the flesh. You want about 1 ½ cups of thick mash.
Make the Base
- Lower the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it steams and bubbles form around the edge.
- Whisk in the cornmeal in a slow stream and keep whisking for 4 to 5 minutes, until it thickens into a loose porridge.
- Off the heat, stir in 3 tablespoons of the butter, the sweet potato mash, maple syrup, salt, black pepper, cayenne and cloves. Let it cool for 10 minutes until it is warm rather than hot.
- Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then the baking powder.
Fold and Bake
- Put the remaining tablespoon of butter into a 2 quart baking dish and set it in the hot oven for 2 minutes, then swirl the melted butter up the sides.
- Beat the egg whites to soft peaks that flop over at the tip. Stir a third of them into the cornmeal base to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two additions, stopping while a few faint white streaks remain.
- Pour the batter into the buttered dish, smooth the top gently, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes without opening the oven for the first 30. It is done when it is puffed and deep golden, the edges are set, and the center still wobbles softly.
- Let it rest 5 to 10 minutes. It will settle as it cools, which is normal. Serve it hot from the dish with a large spoon.
Notes
- Finely ground cornmeal only: coarse cornmeal does not soften in the oven time available and is the main cause of a gritty spoon bread.
- Cook the cornmeal first: whisking it into scalded milk and cooking it to a porridge is the step that guarantees a smooth texture.
- Soft peaks, not stiff: stiff whites break into clumps and tear the batter instead of lifting it.
- Roast, never boil: boiled sweet potato carries water into the batter and it will not set in the center.
- It settles: the puff drops within ten minutes of leaving the oven. That is correct and the texture inside is unaffected.