Melting Sweet Potatoes - The Original Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do you soak sweet potatoes before baking? ›

The cold water bath helps rinse the starch off the sweet potatoes so they're a bit more crispy. That said, if you do not have the time, you can still get crispy baked sweet potato fries by using high heat and a little drizzle of olive oil.

Baking can also cause an 80% drop in vitamin A levels, twice as much as boiling. Therefore, from a nutritional standpoint, boiling rather than baking should be recommended for cooking sweet potato.

Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let the potatoes cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can easily pierce several pieces (always test more than one) with a knife. Potatoes cut into small pieces will take less time to cook.

The key to perfect Caramelised Sweet Potatoes is to cook them slowly so that they have time to caramelise and turn a beautiful golden brown colour. If you cook them too quickly, they'll just end up being roasted sweet potatoes. Another tip is to make sure you drizzle the honey on before you put them in the oven.

Wrapping the sweet potatoes in foil ensures that they don't dry out too quickly, and allows you to add aromatics if desired. Unwrapping the sweet potatoes and increasing the oven temperature produces charred, roasted flavors and caramelizes converted sugars.

There is not much difference between boiling sweet potatoes with the skins on versus peeling them, but you will get a boost of fiber and potassium if you keep the skin on. The skin also adds a subtle texture to each bite. If you're looking for a smoother mash, peel the potatoes first before boiling.

The healthiest ways to prepare sweet potatoes are to steam or boil them. You can also bake, roast, or fry sweet potatoes, but you should take care to limit these preparation methods, which will cause the sugars to break down in different ways and often include extra recipe ingredients like oil, butter, or sugar.

If you're boiling, make sure to cut your sweet potatoes into equally sized pieces so they cook at the same rate. (Another hot tip if you're boiling your sweet potatoes: Don't overcook them! They tend to absorb water, which could make the filling watery.)

Place the potatoes with cold water in a large pot. Add salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking the sweet potatoes until fork tender: 40 minutes for whole, 25 minutes for 2-inch cubes and 15 minutes for 1-inch cubes.

How to tell when sweet potatoes are done boiling? ›

How long can you boil sweet potatoes: For one pound of sweet potatoes, cover the pan and cook sweet potatoes in the boiling salted water 20 to 25 minutes or until just tender. You should be able to easily pierce the sweet potato with a fork or knife.

You'll know the sweet potatoes are done by piercing the center of the sweet potato with the tip of a sharp knife; the flesh should yield easily. Wearing an oven mitt, you can also squeeze the sides to check for doneness; there should be a little bit of give.

We've been playing around with forms of mashed sweet potatoes for over 200 years, enhancing them in different ways with butter, cream, sugar, honey, milk, molasses, egg whites, rose water (yep), and, of course, alcohol.

TIPS & TRICKS to Make this Recipe: The main secrets to achieving that incredible crispy texture, is to soak the cut sweet potatoes in cold water for at least 30 minutes. This helps remove the starch from the sweet potatoes so they´re not limp & soggy.

A study from 2012 found that the sugar content of one type of sweet potato was almost five times higher after baking for 90 minutes, mainly due… to an increase in maltose. A fragrant aroma and soft texture are also important to the experience, and the cooking method has a big effect here.

Par-cooking the potatoes in water between 135 and 170°F (57 and 77°C) activates an enzyme that converts their starch into maltose, making them especially flavorful and sweet, without any need for extra sugar.

The best potatoes for French fries are soaked in a sugar solution before frying. The sugar solution has something to do with the carbohydrates and prevents the potatoes from soaking up a lot of grease, so they get crunchy.

Sweet potatoes - removing starch

Soaking time of about 5 minutes is sufficient.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.