November 06, 2021

HERITAGE RECIPE : Grated Raw Sweet Potato Pudding (A Very Old Southern Recipe)


I will start by saying that this should definitely just be called "Sweet Potato Pudding" because the "grated raw" part is a bit of a turn off. However, it was that wording that caught my eye when I was looking through the heritage recipe book. And I'm so glad I chose it, because it turned out to be delicious!

With Thanksgiving coming up, the sweet potato dish sounded like the perfect dessert to try--a change from sweet potato casserole (my favorite Thanksgiving dish!!) and sweet potato pie. I highly recommend adding this to your Thanksgiving dinner spread!

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Jeanette Herzog. From what I could find, it seems Jeanette is still living; she's actually the vice president of the historical society! In 2007, she and her husband celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

I'm not sure of story behind this recipe, but she wrote the title of it like this:

GRATED RAW SWEET POTATO PUDDING
(A Very Old Southern Recipe)

So, perhaps the person who handed it down to her was from the south. Regardless, I'm glad it made its way north, because it's really delicious!

This pudding tastes a lot like rice pudding, only it's a bit sweeter. The texture is actually similar, too. And if I had bought orange sweet potatoes, I'm sure it would be much prettier! (It kind of looks like cheesy hash brown potatoes, haha). 


I had no idea that there was such a thing as white sweet potatoes. When I was grocery shopping, the organic sweet potatoes were actually cheaper than the non-organic ones, so I chose to get those. All it said was "organic sweet potatoes"--nothing about them being white!

So, I was a little bummed when I peeled them and they weren't the beautiful orange color I'm used to, but they taste the same.

Okay, so as always, my rule for making recipes from the heritage cookbook is that I cannot make any modifications or substitutions in the recipe at all. Here, I've typed it out exactly as written in the book (the "printer-friendly" version is rewritten with my notes included). Make sure you read my notes below the recipe for any clarifications.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Grated Raw Sweet Potato Pudding

3 med. eggs
1 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. melted butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
3 c. grated raw sweet potato (reserve 1 c. for crust)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Beat eggs, add sugar and milk, butter, vanilla and salt. Add 2 cups potato. Place in 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle reserved cup potato over top. Bake 25 minutes. Serves 6.

My Notes:

First, the eggs. I didn't notice that it called for medium eggs; I always buy large eggs. So, I googled the weight of a medium egg and then picked the smallest ones I could find in my package of large eggs; it turns out that they were the perfect size for a "medium" egg. (I'm not sure it matters, but like I said, I don't want to alter anything.)


I bought three sweet potatoes, not sure how many it would take to get three cups of grated potato. It turns out that three is way too much! I grated two of them (in the food processor) and it was packed full. I only ended up using about half of that. So, I'd guess that one large sweet potato would work for the three cups called for in the recipe. (I weighed out the shredded sweet potato just out of curiosity, and each semi-packed cup weighed 110 grams, or 1.4 pounds.)

Also, the recipe didn't specify peeling the potatoes, but I think that is common sense.



Everything was pretty self-explanatory. Here is what it looked like before I put it in the oven... (Because the sweet potatoes are white, it looked like a lot of cheese!)


After 25 minutes, it barely looked any different and was still VERY liquidy. So, I put it back in and I set the timer for 10 minutes. Still, the center was not set. 10 more minutes. Nope. Finally, another 10 minutes did the trick and the center was set (very soft-set, but it wasn't liquid). So, you'll probably have to bake for close to an hour.


When I scooped out some pudding, I noticed a lot of liquid on the bottom of the dish--it was clear liquid, so it wasn't due to being under-baked; I think the liquid was from the sweet potato. (After some googling, I am pretty sure that's correct.) When using raw sweet potatoes, the liquid is released into the dish as it cooks. The liquid was extremely sweet--almost like a syrup--so it wasn't gross or anything.

Definitely allow the pudding to cool completely before serving, and then stir it well and the liquid will be absorbed into the pudding. Mine was still warm when I scooped some out, so there was a lot of liquid. Later on, after it sat for a couple of hours, the liquid was easily stirred into the pudding.

I don't think that this dish needs cinnamon or any sort of spices; I think it's perfect as-is! It's a great Thanksgiving dish :)

2 comments:

  1. I love sweet potatoes so I will need to try this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the printer-ready version. Very thoughtful!

    ReplyDelete

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