Sweet potatoes are a root vegetable from Central America domesticated around 5000 years ago.  In 1492, Columbus took some back to Europe. There are references to them as early as 1740 and they were known to be used by American colonists who had brought recipes to America with them. The “candied” sweet potatoes may have originated in Central and South America, although references in American cookbooks show them in the 1800s.

My Mom’s (z”l) Candied Sweet Potatoes

8-10 servings

• 8 sweet potatoes
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ½ cup crushed nuts (optional)
• 2 T. margarine
• 2 T. non-dairy creamer
• 2 T. orange juice               

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole.

2. Cook sweet potatoes in water in a saucepan until soft. Remove, cool and peel. Place in a bowl and mash.

3. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts, margarine, non-dairy creamer and orange juice. Spoon into greased casserole and bake 30-45 minutes.

P.S. No marshmallows are listed.

My Sabra Sweet Potatoes

6 servings

I remember creating this dish because for company it looked so attractive.

• 6 oranges
• ¼ cup Sabra
• 6 T. margarine
• 2 T. brown sugar
• ¼ t. nutmeg
• 4 cooked, peeled, smashed sweet potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole.

2. Cut oranges in half and scoop out pulp.

3. Place mashed sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl.

4. In a saucepan, combine Sabra, margarine, brown sugar and nutmeg. Simmer for 3 minutes. Pour over sweet potatoes.

5. Spoon sweet potatoes and sauce into orange halves. Bake 30 minutes.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

8 servings

• 8 sweet potatoes cooked and peeled
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 1 t. lemon rind
• 3 T. lemon juice
• ¼ t. ginger
• margarine pieces
• marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking dish.

2. Slice peeled sweet potatoes and place in baking dish.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice and ginger. Spoon over potatoes. Dot with margarine and marshmallows.

4. Bake 20 minutes.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, author, compiler/contributor/editor of nine kosher cookbooks (working on a 10th) and food writer for North American Jewish publications. She lives in Jerusalem where she has led weekly walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English since 2009. She wrote the kosher Jerusalem restaurant features for Janglo.net, the oldest, largest website for English speakers, from 2014 to 2020.