- Sweet potato pudding may have predated pumpkin pie in the South.
- The 1827 recipe comes from Virginia’s first published cookbook.
- Sweet potatoes offer fiber, antioxidants and holiday flavor.
Sure, holiday dinners are big on main courses like herb-roasted turkey and perfect prime rib, but the real stars of the holiday food spread might just be the sweet desserts. After all, there’s a reason we’re ordering peppermint mochas and pumpkin spice lattes earlier and earlier each year: sweet holiday flavors bring us a bit of merriment and channel nostalgia.
But if you’ve already worn yourself out on pumpkin pie-flavored treats this season, there’s another nutritious, orange vegetable that can help. And it may have appeared on holiday dessert tables way before pumpkins. According to the folks at Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, Sweet Potato Pudding just might pre-date pumpkin pie.
Frank Clark, the master of historic foodways at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, tells EatingWell that the organization has adapted a cozy recipe for sweet potato pudding from an 1827 cookbook called “The Virginia Housewife” by Mary Randolph. Randolph’s cookbook was the first cookbook published in the state of Virginia, according to Clark, and her recipe for sweet potato pudding was chosen because the dish “has ties to Williamsburg and the colonies.”
“Sweet potatoes were a little more popular than pumpkin in the South at the time,” Clark explained, “and are even today.”
Colonial Williamsburg’s Sweet Potato Pudding Recipe
To make Colonial Williamsburg’s 21st century-version of Sweet Potato Pudding, which is often served at taverns around the destination, gather the following ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato (that weighs slightly more than a pound)
- 5 large eggs
- ¾ pound of sugar, plus 2 teaspoons for the top
- ¾ pound of butter
- 1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of freshly-grated lemon peel
- 2 to 4 ounces of French brandy (according to your own tastes)
- ¼ to ½ cup candied citron bits
- 1 sheet of puff pastry or 1 pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
Start by peeling the sweet potato and boiling it in water until it’s soft. Drain and allow the potato to cool before mashing the sweet potato by hand in a mixing bowl until there are no lumps. Melt the butter until softened in a small bowl, and beat the eggs thoroughly in a separate mixing bowl. Into the bowl with the beaten eggs, add the softened butter, sugar, nutmeg, lemon peel and brandy, and mix well.
Next, blend the liquid mixture into the mashed sweet potato until well-combined. Line a pie plate with your pastry crust and add the filling to the pie plate, until it reaches about ½ an inch from the top of the edge of the pie crust. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust is baked enough, but the top of the pudding hasn’t turned dark brown. Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of sugar on top of the pudding and decorate with citron pieces. Allow the pudding to cool before cutting and serving.
Curious where to find citron? The sweet ingredient is just the candied peel of citrus fruits, and it’s easy to find online—just do some scrolling on Amazon or another large retailer. But, Clark says it’s an ingredient that’s also OK to skip.
“[Sweet Potato Pudding] is not hard to make, and it’s optional to add the candied citron bits,” he explained. “Citron was much more popular in [1824] than today, and I don’t think [adding it] enhances the pie a whole lot.”
This unique dessert doesn’t just make an interesting talking point for your holiday dinner guests—the humble sweet potato packs plenty of health benefits, too. Sweet potatoes have been known to improve heart and gut health, support eye health and contain lots of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber.
Looking for more healthy holiday meal ideas? Check out our Heart-Healthy Thanksgiving Sides or our Healthy Christmas Holiday Recipes for more.
