Friday evening during the seminar a bunch of us blew off vendors who wanted to wine and dine us and went to Ruth Chris by ourselves instead. We all felt we had been seminared for over 12 hours already and frankly just wanted to sit down to a good meal and friendship. This was one of the side dishes a few people commented on that they really liked. I knew I had a similar one so I said I would post it.
Sweet Potato Mixture
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs - well beaten
1 stick butter - (1/2 cup) melted
Crust
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (I prefer pecans)
1/3 stick butter - melted
Combine the ingredients for the crust: brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. (Although this is the official recipe, for those with nut allergies, you can divide this whole recipe into 2 dishes and then just sprinkle the pecans on the top before baking). Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a mixing bowl in the order listed. Mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.
Note - I personally use a bit more brown sugar and less pecans in my crust - I like my crust crispy and sweet and not too nutty. I also tend to really chop the pecans into tiny pieces.
