Candied yams

I'd heard of candied yams before, but first tried them at an Easter party and was mightily impressed. The sweetness is only emphasized by the brown sugar which toasts and caramelizes to produce a dish almost too sweet to be served with the main course. I added marshmallows, a peculiar type of topping, to toast and melt over the top, although one recipe I saw stated that they should also be melted into the sugar to be poured over the yams while cooking. Along with the jello salads that I posted about last year, these type of dishes reflect the Southern love of cloyingly sweet dishes to be served alongside the turkey.

Recipe : Candied yams

To feed 12

4lb of yams

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

a large handful of marshmallows (Neil thought it was mozzarella and told everyone so).

Preheat the oven to 350oF

Lightly grease a baking dish with a little of the melted butter.

Peel the yams and cut into discs about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

Layer about 1/3 of the yams into the baking dish in one layer and sprinkle 1/3 of the sugar / cinnamon mixture over. Repeat with the rest of the yams and sugar.

Pour the melted butter over the yams, cover and bake for one hour, after which time the yams should be soft.

Remove the lid and bake for a further 20 minutes or so to slightly brown the top and evaporate some of the butter.

Add the marshmallows and bake for a further 5 - 10 minutes until the marshmallows are lightly brown and melted.