Give Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes The Crème Brûlée Treatment

Sweet potatoes, true to their name, are fairly sweet ... for potatoes. This may be why they appear more often than their white counterparts in dessert recipes such as sweet potato pie or dessert-adjacent side dishes like sweet potato casserole, praline sweet potatoes, or fully-loaded baked sweet potatoes. Still, recipes intended to highlight the sweeter side of these spuds usually include additional sweeteners. One way to sweeten up your tubers while still retaining their basic form is to make twice-baked sweet potatoes and then top them with a crème brûlée-style layer of melted sugar.

The twice-baked part is simple enough: Bake the sweet potatoes until they soften, cut them open, scoop out the insides, then mash them up with sugar, spice, and everything nice. Refill the potatoes, sprinkle them with a generous amount of sugar, then turn on your brûlée torch and point it at the potatoes until the sugar melts. As an alternative, you could top the potatoes with mini marshmallows and use the torch to brûlée those instead.

The aforementioned twice-baked potato technique is one that you can customize to suit your preferences. Add some extra cream or coconut cream to the mashed sweet potato filling if you wish. Maybe season it with pumpkin pie-type spices. Alternatively, stir in some ginger or cayenne to give it a little heat. The choice of sweetener is up to you, as well: Honey, agave, or even a flavored simple syrup could all work, as could brown or white sugar, while maple syrup would give the dish some additional fall flavor.

While it depends on your choice of ingredients, we'd say this recipe occupies the same in-between territory as sweet potato casserole, meaning that it's essentially a dessert-like side dish. If you want to turn it into more of a dessert, though, you could make a simple custard (or even pudding from a box mix) and mix in a little mashed sweet potato, then spoon the filling into hollowed-out sweet potato boats and give each one a brûlée topping. (If you're using a baked custard recipe, you'll first need to cook it inside the sweet potatoes before adding the sugar.) On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can also bake plain sweet potatoes, cut them in half, then top them with burnt sugar for a straight-up side with just a hint of sweetness and a fun crunchy element.

If you don't have a brûlée torch, you needn't purchase one for the sole purpose of experimenting with sweet potatoes. A cheap torch-style lighter will work just fine, but you can also go flame-free by using one of several alternate methods of melting the sugar. One of the easiest involves putting the sugared potatoes under the broiler just until the sugar melts. You will need to keep an eye on them as they cook to prevent the topping from burning.

Another way to brûlée that's a bit more hands-on involves heating a metal spoon in the flames of a gas stove (if you have one), then touching it to the sugar until it melts. If you go this route, you'll need to clean the spoon each time you re-heat it, since otherwise it'll be coated in a blackened mess. Also, be careful to pick up the utensil with care and protection, as even the handle may heat up over time.

Yet another way to achieve a crunchy sugary topping is to make a rich simple syrup with two parts sugar to one of water; a little corn syrup or honey will help prevent the syrup from forming crystals as it cooks. Simmer the mixture until the sugar melts and the liquid turns golden brown, then pour a thin layer over your potatoes and wait for it to harden. This may work best with an even surface, preventing the syrup from sliding off, so use a spoon to flatten out the filling in your twice-baked potatoes before you pour.