Most of my favorite recipes use wholesome, healthful ingredients that are local and seasonal. I don’t buy a lot of processed products or packaged snacks. I truly enjoy making things from scratch.
But once in awhile I find a recipe or a product that I simple cannot resist. Oreo cookies. Entenmanns’s Cheese Danish Twist. And most recently a sweet potato kugel my mother-in-law made last year using sweet potatoes, marshmallows and a box of cake mix. My sister-in-law and I sat at one end of the long kitchen table with two heaping platefuls of the addictive kugel, unable to prevent ourselves from eating yet another serving.
Soon after the sweet potato kugel binge, I fell asleep with my daughter upstairs for a full hour and a half. Forget the turkey-induced snooze fest…my kugel nap was just divine.
I convinced my mother-in-law to hand over the recipe, and with just a few small tweaks, I share it with you all. But I warn you: there is no going back. Make this at your own risk. You may not be able to put down your fork.
Ingredients
8 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3-4 heaping Tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup orange juice or orange-flavored liqueur
8 oz mini marshmallows
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks margarine or butter, melted
Directions
Boil sweet potatoes in large pot of water until tender, around 20-25 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the sweet potatoes and mash in a large bowl. Add vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg, salt and orange juice or orange-flavored liqueur and mix well.
Grease a 9×11 baking dish. Layer half of the sweet potato mixture evenly in the baking dish.
Sprinkle marshmallows over the top. Add remaining sweet potato mixture on top of marshmallows and spread evenly using an off-set spatula or knife.
Sprinkle yellow cake mix evenly over the top of sweet potato mixture. Pour melted butter or margarine evenly over the top of the cake mix.
Bake for 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
kugel
Prounounced: KOO-gull (oo as in book), Origin: Yiddish, traditional Ashkenazi casserole frequently made with egg noodles or potatoes.
