Candied Yams

Yams are often confused with sweet potatoes mainly because of their similar appearance. However there is lot of difference between the two in aspects of taste, color, and also the way of cooking. Unlike sweet potatoes, canned yams can be roasted, fried, barbecued, smoked, grilled and also boiled! So when you are thinking of preparing these, you can resort to any of the above ways. Talking about the nutrition, canned yams are rich in dietary fiber, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. Canned yams have 200 calories, whereas candied yams have 230 calories.

What are Candied Yams?

Candied yams are considered to be the prime dish of traditional American cuisine. They are served as a side dish, generally as a dessert, especially during Thanksgiving. The main ingredients are generally yams or sweet potatoes, marshmallows, molasses and orange juice.

Recipe #1
Ingredients

• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups orange juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 pounds yams, peeled and cut to large bite-sized pieces
• 2 tbs flour
• 1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
• 3 cups light corn syrup

Process

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Boil the yams in a medium-sized container, remove them from the heat before they are completely done. Keeping them a little underdone will prevent them from breaking. When removed from the heat, strain and let cool. Meanwhile, take a large container and mix nutmeg, zest, corn syrup, orange juice, cinnamon and vanilla together, set aside. In a small bowl whisk brown sugar, flour and granulated sugar. Now put the cooled yams into a baking dish, add the sugar mixture to it and stir well to coat. When well coated, pour the orange juice mixture over it and bake for about 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Recipe #2
Ingredients

• 1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ tsp coarse sea salt
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tbs pure olive oil, light sesame oil
• 3 (2-inch) strips orange zest, white, spongy pith removed
• 2 tsp peeled and finely chopped ginger root
• 2 pounds garnet yams
• 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

Process

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take the yams and peel them crosswise; after peeling cut them into half, into 4 wedges. Place these pieces onto a baking dish, big enough to hold all in a single layer. Put cinnamon sticks and orange zest among the yams and set aside. Now take a small bowl and whisk lemon juice, orange juice, ginger, maple syrup and salt together, and pour the mixture over the yams. Bake for about 1¼ hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Cook until the yams are tender and the juices are syrup-like. When cooked, remove the zest and cinnamon sticks before serving.

Candied Yams with Marshmallows
Ingredients

• 1 can pineapple bits
• ½ cup margarine, melted
• 2 tsp ginger
• Miniature marshmallows
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup honey
• 1 can yams, drained and mashed
• 1 cup pecans
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg

Process

Mix mashed yams in a casserole and set aside. Now take a bowl and add ginger, cinnamon, margarine, brown sugar, nutmeg, and honey together. When well mixed, add the yam mixture to it along with pineapple bits and pecans. Top it with miniature marshmallows and bake at 325 degrees until heated and marshmallows are bubbly.

You can try the same recipes with sweet potatoes and see the difference between candied yams and candied sweet potatoes for yourself. Bon appetit!