Sweet Potato Pudding

Technically this dish is called "Scraped Potato Pudding" but I don't find that name very enticing. Reading the actual recipe from The Outer Banks Cookbook did get my mouth-watering though. Apparently, people from the Outer Banks say "scrape" potatoes instead of "grate." I read about this old-fashioned pudding when I was trying to think of a way to make hashbrown casserole with sweet potatoes, apparently, as with most recipes, that wasn't an original idea. 

Here, sweet potatoes are baked in a sweet custard that comes together quickly and sets up firmly. The sweet potatoes soften, cinnamon sugar and vanilla add great flavor, and the top gets a little crunchy (does anyone NOT love the crunchy bits?!), in this pretty orange casserole that would fit well on either your dinner or dessert menu.  

I hope you enjoy this yummy casserole soon!

Serves 8

Recipe adapted from: The Outer Banks Cookbook: Recipes & Traditions from North Carolina's Barrier Islands by Elizabeth Wiegand

You'll need:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 eggs
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
2 Tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
3 cups scraped (grated) sweet potatoes (2 or 3 medium-sized potatoes, I used the grating disc on my food processor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter an 8-inch square pan (I used a 6 x 10-inch pan). 

Mix together sugar and cinnamon until combined. In a large bowl whisk the eggs until combined. Stir in the melted butter, evaporated milk, water, vanilla, salt, and pepper. 

Grate the potatoes; quickly add to the milk mixture and stir well. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until pudding is set in the middle (poke with a paring knife to check).

Cut into pieces and serve warm.

There are any number of ways this recipe can be updated/changed. For a kugel type dish you could add raisins or nuts. Instead of evaporated milk, I think coconut milk would taste great. Use coconut or brown sugar instead of granulated. 

Since my family loves the marshmallow topped sweet potato casserole for dinner, this dish also fits right in with savory items. We loved it with pork chops and braised red cabbage. https://www.instructables.com/id/Pork-Chops-with-Braised-Red-Cabbage/
If you don't like sweet foods at dinner, there's no reason why this can't be dessert.