Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Hubby and I went to Maine for a weekend with friends. We had a blast hanging out on the mountains, falling on our butts while learning to snowboard, and just chilling with friends. The group was 18 people and we stayed in a huge house with a very large kitchen. I was in charge of dinner for Saturday night. I've never cooked for 18 people before but it worked out well. I made one crockpot of pulled pork, one crockpot of Italian beef, 10 pounds of mashed sweet potatoes, and a double batch of 7-layer salad. In case you're wondering, I used about 14 pounds of meat in the crockpots for 18 people. There was a little leftover that people made into sandwiches the next day.

I saw these mashed sweet potatoes pop up a few places in my Google Reader just after the Inauguration. They're the same recipe that was served at the Inauguration luncheon on January 20th! They are very tasty.

Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes - from The 2009 Inauguration Luncheon - serves 6
3 large sweet potatoes, about 3 pounds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of molasses
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and roast until easily pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.

Peel the skin off of the sweet potatoes while still hot.By hand or mixer, smash potatoes until all large chunks are gone. Combine the potatoes, butter, salt, orange juice, brown sugar, ground cumin, molasses and maple syrup in a large bowl. Continue to mix all together until all lumps are gone. Adjust any of the seasonings to your specific tastes. Can be made the day before.

I'm submitting this post in the Bookmarked Recipes blogging event, which is being hosted by Joelen this week.