This week we’re gaining inspiration from one of the most underestimated fall ingredients—the sweet potato. While it’s unlikely that the sweet potato currently holds a spot in your collection of candy ingredients, we’re hoping you’ll give this surprisingly versatile super spud a chance to prove its worth in your candy kitchen this fall.
If sweet potato casserole is part of your family’s Thanksgiving spread, you may have thought to yourself, “this is good enough to be dessert!” That’s not just because of the gooey, toasted marshmallows on top. When roasted, sweet potatoes weep liquid which can be reduced to a naturally sweet, thick and creamy texture similar to caramel sauce. Add sugar, butter and heavy cream to make a more earthy variation of caramel or omit the dairy completely to make a vegan caramel.
Spiced
Sweet Potato Caramels
Like
sweet potato casserole, but better! This recipe is
similar to pumpkin caramel, but with pureed sweet potato. You could use canned
sweet potato puree to save time, but more importantly, consider layering this caramel with marshmallow to achieve the full sweet-potato-casserole effect.
Or coat in chocolate and top with sea salt, because, why not?!
Dulce
de leche and Sweet Potato
Though
a turkey shape may be a timelier application here, we’re loving this
combination of dulce de leche, sweet potato and sea salt encased in dark
chocolate.
Salted
Cashew Sweet Potato Fudge
Although
unexpected, canned yams and cashew butter contribute to the rich flavor of this
fudge recipe. Give it a try and you may find it to be a new fall favorite.
Sweet
Potato Dark Chocolate Bar
Inspired
by dulce de batata (a Dominican sweet potato pudding), this bean-to-bar
chocolate maker uses sweet potato as substitute for animal milk in their vegan chocolate line.
Sweet
Potato Caramel Sauce
This approach is not for everyone, but if you enjoy
experimenting and can appreciate a very minimal ingredient list and/or want to grow your vegan customer base, this two-ingredient recipe for
sweet potato caramel sauce may be worth a try. This sauce could be used for
savory or sweet applications and could the base for a number of other sweet potato
experiments.
Move
over pumpkin and make room for the versatile sweet potato as a new favorite
fall ingredient! Not only is the sweet potato a beloved addition to many holiday
potlucks (shout out to sweet potato casserole and pie!), it is also a
superstar in the vegan community. If you find the humble sweet potato as
endearing as we do, share your sweet potato confections on RCI’s Facebook page @retailconfectioners.
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