Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Bake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should sweet potatoes be soaked before baking? ›

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.

The reason they are hard in the middle is cook them longer or on a higher temperature. Soaking will not help soften your sweet potato unless you are putting the potato and water in a pot on the stove and cooking it. If your sweet potato is still hard it's not cooked enough.

Don't forget to poke: Poking holes in the sweet potatoes is crucial. It allows steam to escape, ensuring the insides become perfectly soft while preventing any oven mishaps from over-pressurized potatoes. Oil evenly: When rubbing oil onto the potatoes, make sure it's evenly distributed.

Eggs and cream help stabilize the dish and prevent it from becoming too runny (a common complaint with many sweet potato casserole recipes). Make it as smooth or chunky as you like!

Give them a cold water bath: Once your fries are chopped, toss them into a large bowl. Then cover the fries completely with cold water and let them soak for at least 30 minutes (or up to overnight). This will help to rinse off the excess starch and help the potatoes crisp up beautifully in the oven.

Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.

A good rule of thumb for whole baked sweet potatoes: 45 minutes to 1 hour at 400 degrees F; 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 degrees F; 1 and 1/2 hours at 325 degrees F. 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.

By soaking the wedges you draw out the starch from the potato. The starch is what causes the insides of wedges to go gloppy when they bake, and by removing the starch you increase the chances of them coming out light and fluffy in the centre.

Cut into eighths and place in a large pot. Add enough water to just cover the potatoes, and a pinch of salt. Boil sweet potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are tender when pierced with a fork. It will take less time if you cut the sweet potatoes into smaller pieces.

If you're serving your oven baked sweet potatoes as a side dish, pair them with your favorite protein or vegetarian chili. For a topping, stick to butter, Greek yogurt, or sour cream, or try adding a dollop of cilantro lime dressing, tzatziki, chipotle sauce, pesto, guacamole, or a drizzle of tahini sauce.

Is it better to wrap sweet potatoes in foil when baking? ›

Wrapping sweet potatoes in foil helps in a few ways. It prevents the exterior of the tuber from drying out and overheating too quickly, which would minimize enzymatic activity; it also results in a more evenly cooked texture.

Potatoes that are 8 ounces or smaller should be done in 45 minutes, but larger potatoes will take at least 60 minutes. Err on the side of over-baking if you don't like the potatoes to be firm in the center.

The egg is the all-important binder in a sweet potato casserole: it enriches and stiffens the mixture without making it heavy. Make sure to cool the mash slightly before adding the egg so it doesn't scramble, and to stir well so there are no streaks of cooked egg white in the finished dish.

The ooze is actually referred to as "sap." It is made up of sugar and starch combined with the moisture found in the vegetable, and it escapes out of the damage made from the knife. The sap really equals the sweetness. If it's pouring out of your potato, that means it's a sweet and delicious vegetable.

Soaking the sweet potatoes removes excess starch, which allows them to crisp up easier. You will want to put them in cold water for at least 30 minutes, but the longer you can go, the better.

To remove excess starch, place cut sweet potatoes into cold water making sure the cut surfaces are submerged. This step is especially recommended for "kinton" (Japanese-style mashed sweet potato) and other lightly seasoned dishes where a delectable color is desired. Soaking time of about 5 minutes is sufficient.

When chopping sweet potatoes in advance, make sure to store them in cold water in the refrigerator. That said, if you're cooking sweet potatoes in advance, don't worry about the water. Cooked sweet potatoes do just fine when stored in an airtight container.

Place the sweet potato in a container of water. Keep the top 1/3 of the potato exposed by placing toothpicks into the sides. The pointed end should be down in the water. In a few weeks a vine with several stems will begin to sprout.