At the time, I had just completed my M.S. degree elsewhere and was working as the assistant to the State Extension Specialist in Food and Nutrition in the State of PA and we had received inquiries for some new recipes featuring sweet potatoes and/or yams. One of the other Extension Specialists actually loved to cook, whereas my boss did not really enjoy spending time in the kitchen, so I brainstormed instead with her colleague, Carolyn Schrock.
I happen to like souffle recipes that work every time. I’ve made this side dish many times in a ceramic casserole dish and actually, it is delicious even when left over, so I use that dish because it has a cover to boot. Honestly, this souffle could even be served at the end of a meal as a dessert!
Although this recipe is higher in fat than some others, the flavor and mouthfeel is just wonderful and a little bit is very satisfying.
Sweet Potato Souffle
Yield: ~ six dinner meal side dish servings
Preheat oven to 350°F
Grease a 2 quart casserole dish
Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (or yams) (in a pinch, canned will work!)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons Red Wine
- 1/2 cup fat free milk
- 2 tablespoons brandy
Method:
- Beat egg yolks until light.
- Stir in slightly cooled, mashed sweet potatoes, spices, sugar, butter, wine, brandy and milk.
- Beat egg whites separately until stiff, but not dry.
- Fold beaten egg whites into sweet potato mixture.
- Heap into greased casserole dish.
- Bake for 1 hour or until done.
This looks yummy! I am wondering if there are substitutions that could be made…always in the quest to reduce the amount of cholesterol and fat in our diet. I’m wondering if egg beaters would be ok instead of the yolks and if something like Smart Balance would be an acceptable substitute for the butter. Hmmm. Sounds like a souffle experiment is in order.
Robin, excellent questions!
You know, the official stance on the use of eggs in the diet has changed and they are no longer on the “avoid all together list” when it comes to the yolks! Now I’m not suggesting anyone eat both crème brûlée and hollandaise sauce on a daily basis, but 1/2 of an egg yolk per serving is not excessive and within the NEWER guidelines of 1 whole egg per day (including the yolk where the cholesterol is located) being considered acceptable. (Yes, one should add up the egg contributions from various items over the course of a day to come up with their daily total of same).
Eggs do contribute vital nutrients to anyone’s diet.
Still, in theory, possibly the equivalent of say 1.5 eggs worth of Egg Beaters could substitute for the 3 egg yolks in this instance as some fat would still be there to contribute to the mouthfeel texture of the souffle and some proteins would still be there contributing some stabilizing structural properties.
I’m suggesting only 1.5 eggs worth of Egg Beaters as you are replacing the volume of the 3 beaten egg yolks and of course the fat content will be different and less that way. The beaten egg whites, which are responsible for creating the final critical structural integrity of the souffle through albumin protein, only ask that nothing interfere with their work!
As for making a fat substitution, yes, there is quite a bit of saturated fat in butter and I probably should play around with cutting back on how much melted butter there is in this recipe.
More and more, we are focusing our concerns on the average saturated fat intake in a person’s diet over time. Although excessive fat intake from all sources on a daily basis is not recommended, we are promoting more substitutions of healthy fats for less healthy ones as again, some of the healthier fats do make vital nutrient contributions to the diet. It usually is a good idea to look at options for replacing more of the saturated fat content of a recipe with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats when feasible.
Because uncooked kiln dried sweet potatoes or yams are typically lower in water content, then yes, in theory you could indeed substitute melted Smart Balance for the melted butter as the sweet potatoes or yams should soak up that melted, more watery product just as the potatoes would soak up the melted butter and other liquids in the recipe.
The mashed sweet potatoes are like “sponges” soaking up the flavoring components of the recipe, including that of the fat. That “sponge” property means only so much watery liquid can be held and then stabilized by the added egg proteins in the recipe–use either too much watery liquid or overcook the egg proteins and the result will be “weeping” of liquids out of the sweet potato and egg white “sponge” if you can visualize that type of analogy. The “gel” structure breaks down, causing the weeping.
Just remember that water doesn’t act like fat in a recipe so in another instance, say in making a baked good, substituting melted Smart Balance or other fat substitutes might interfere with the recipe working as intended. The flavor substitution of Smart Balance for melted butter will mean the flavor profile won’t be identical in this recipe, nor will the mouthfeel, but it should in theory still be quite pleasant as there are other sensory components to carry the recipe!
Stephanie, you are so great at this!!! The site is beautiful also!!! GREAT JOB!