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.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I have been loving Butternut Squash more than ever this season, myself! Your pictures are lovely, and making me hungry!
I LOVE butternut squash… especially when roasted until slightly crisp on the outside. Your caramelized version looks great – I will need to add a touch of brown sugar and butter next time I make it.
YUM!!! I started my butternut squash kick this weekend- this looks amazing!
I have a butternut squash from my CSA that I’m dying to cut into. I have a question though, how does one peel a butternut squash?
Melissa – I like to use a Y-shaped vegetable peeler to peel the skin off. You could do it with a knife, but I would be worried about cutting myself.
Sounds like a fabulous way to prepare those squash. I’ll have to remember this for if we have another bumper crop next year!
Hi Jen, nice seeing you again yesterday. I usually roast my butternut squash with brown sugar too but I can’t believe I never thought of adding butter! I usually omit the salt and pepper because I like it very dessert-like, so I add cinnamon too 🙂
what a great blog!
here is so many inspirations,
have a nice time,
Paula
I love butternut squash too. It’s definitely delicious with just a bit of brown sugar. Sometimes I go a bit overboard and roast it with a whole lot of butter, brown, sugar, and maple syrup.
This looks amazing! I love bn squash. I just made a fantastic soup, and now I want to carmelize it!
This is such a simple way to cook butternut squash and yet SO delicious! I’m loving your butternut squash blog posts!