Creamy Vanilla Sweet Potatoes

Creamy Vanilla Sweet Potatoes

By Bev Bennett

An Old-Fashioned Holiday Recipe with a Twist

Pro chefs and casual cooks alike will soon create confections for the holiday season.

The best-loved delicacies will have one of the world's most popular flavors in common -- vanilla, with its heady, aromatic taste combined with sweet, fruity and floral scents.

Americans consume about 1,200 tons of vanilla beans a year. Vanilla is exciting and comforting, sexy and simple all at the same time.

One way to expand your holiday recipe list this year is to use vanilla in savory dishes like Creamy Vanilla Sweet Potatoes, in addition to cakes and cookies.

Vanilla helps to enhance the inherent flavors of sweet potatoes, rather than concealing their flavor in sweeteners.

Creamy Vanilla Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Serves 6

Recipe Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes

canola oil

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter softened

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1 tablespoon Nielsen-Massey Tahitian Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

5 strips bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled

Recipe Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash sweet potatoes and lightly coat skins with canola oil.

Pierce each potato several times with a fork, place the potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Bake for one hour or until fork-tender.

Cut the hot potatoes into halves. Scoop the pulp into a mixing bowl, discarding the skins.

Beat at medium speed for one minute using an electric mixer.

Add cream cheese, butter, syrup, vanilla extract, salt and pepper. Whip until creamy.

Spoon whipped potatoes into six ramekins coated with nonstick cooking spray and top with the bacon. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for five to eight minutes or until heated through. Alternatively, they may be reheated in a microwave.

Vanilla was discovered in Mexico, and Mexican beans are spicier and complement chocolate, cinnamon, cloves and other warm spices. Surprisingly, Mexican pure vanilla extract also smoothes out the heat and acidity of tomatoes and chili peppers, which are used in salsas and barbecue sauces. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns consumers to purchase only Mexican pure vanilla that is produced in the United States. Mexican-produced vanilla is often made with coumarin, a toxic substance banned in the U.S.

Confectioners, bakers, chefs of fine restaurants and home cooks make sure they have vanilla like Nielsen-Massey Vanillas on hand to perfect their holiday baking. Nielsen-Massey Vanillas Inc. is known as the producer of the finest vanilla because it uses an exclusive cold extraction process, which slowly draws out the delicate and distinctive flavors of the vanilla beans.

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