This card is the opposite of the German cabbage one. My grandmother wrote down every amount: two cups of sweet potatoes, two eggs, three quarters of a cup each of sugar and milk, a teaspoon of allspice, and a quarter stick of butter. What she didn't write down was what to do with them. I guess she didn't need to.
It's an old Southern-style holiday side, closer to a light sweet potato pie filling than a French soufflé. The thing that makes hers different is the allspice. Most sweet potato soufflés use cinnamon and vanilla. Allspice tastes warmer and a little peppery, like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg all in one.
Here's what the card says:
Sweet Potato Soufflé
2 cups sweet potatoes
2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup sweet milk
1 teaspoon allspice
¼ stick butter
Since the card doesn't give a method, we followed the steps that published sweet potato soufflé recipes share: mash cooked sweet potatoes, beat in the eggs, sugar, milk, and butter, and bake at 350°F until set. Her amounts stay exactly as she wrote them. If you want the modern holiday version, there's a marshmallow topping below.
Serves 4 to 6. Takes about 1½ hours, including cooking the sweet potatoes.
Method based on Old School Sweet Potato Soufflé by Patrick and Gina Neely on Food Network and Aunt Peggy's Sweet Potato Soufflé by Paula Deen.
Ingredients
Grandma's way
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2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 medium)
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2 eggs, beaten
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¾ cup sugar
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¾ cup whole milk
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1 teaspoon ground allspice
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2 tablespoons butter (¼ stick), melted, plus more for the dish
For the modern marshmallow topping (optional)
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Mini marshmallows, enough to cover the top
Method
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Cook the sweet potatoes. Either bake them whole at 425°F until they're very soft, 45 minutes to an hour, or peel, cube, and boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain boiled ones well.
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Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish or a 1½-quart casserole dish.
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Mash the sweet potatoes until smooth and measure out 2 cups.
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Beat in the eggs, sugar, milk, allspice, and melted butter until everything is smooth. The mixture will be looser than mashed potatoes. That's normal.
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Pour it into the baking dish.
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Bake until the edges are lightly browned and the center is set and doesn't jiggle, about 35 to 45 minutes.
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Let it rest 5 minutes before serving.
For the modern marshmallow version: Bake as above until the center is almost set. Cover the top with mini marshmallows and bake until they're toasted, 5 to 10 minutes more. Watch them closely, because they go from golden to burnt fast.
A few things worth knowing
What's "sweet milk"? Old recipes say "sweet milk" to mean regular milk, not buttermilk. Whole milk is closest to what she would have used.
Why is it so loose? Her card uses more milk for the amount of sweet potato than most modern recipes. That gives it a soft, custardy texture, a lot like pie filling. Give it the full time in the oven and let it rest before you scoop.
Baked sweet potatoes taste better. Baking them whole makes them sweeter and less watery than boiling. Boiling is faster. Either works.
Canned sweet potatoes work in a pinch. Drain them very well before mashing, and use plain canned sweet potatoes, not the kind packed in syrup.
It's a small batch. This makes a side for 4 to 6 people. For a big holiday table, double it and bake in a 9 by 13-inch dish. Start checking at the same time, but expect it to need a little longer.
Good with
Roast turkey, baked ham, or pork chops. It's a good pick for Thanksgiving, and a small dish of it next to Grandma's German Cabbage makes a proper old-fashioned supper.
