Tag: Cinnamon

Call them sweet potatoes, call them yams.  You can call them Al.  It doesn’t really matter because these indulgent candied tubers are delicious any way you slice them (but for this recipe, it’s really just in half.)  I mentioned the Mustard Museum in a previous post.  It’s one of the hidden gems in Wisconsin.  Wisconsin is also the home of the Honey Museum. If you don’t know someone with bees, you may want to visit the Honey Museum before attempting this recipe.  The Honey Museum is on the outskirts of a small town in southern WI.  In the summer, there is a lovely nature trail to walk around before or after visiting the museum.  The hiking trail takes you out into the woods and meadow behind Honey Acres.  There is a wooden tower to climb to get a full view of the area.  When the boys were younger and we lived closer, I’d take them out for some hiking and picture taking in an attempt to wear them out.

After hiking, I would stock up on honey sticks and honey bears. Before you get visions of the Louvre or the Museum of Science and Industry, the museum at Honey acres is a circular path of displays around a theatre screen.  The best part of the museum is the area where you can view the inside of a working bee hive. There is a sampling area where you can taste honey made from the pollen of different flowers, creamed honey, and honey mustard.  The gift shop has a variety of of honey related merchandise for purchase, including honey mints.   Typical recipes for candied yams require gobs of brown sugar and or marshmallows. This one, however, replaces brown sugar with an entire cup and a half of honey.  If you purchase good honey, this is not a cheap recipe to make.  I found that there was WAY too much syrup for the amount of sweet potatoes used and would cut that part of the recipe in half.  The tang from the orange and lemon and bite from the spices cut through some of the sweetness, but not enough.

When faced with sweet potato options at the grocery store, there were Hawaiian sweet potatoes.  I had never had those so I decided to try them.  They are a gorgeous shade of purple, but taste like other sweet potatoes.  Maybe a little starchier.Boiling the tubers before peeling, makes the peels slide right off.  But beware that freshly boiled potatoes are boiling hot.

Ok, so if I was going to make this recipe again, I’d add more cinnamon.  I’d add something crunchy to it because I like my food to have some texture.  I’d cut the amount of honey used in half.  The addition of something like chipotle pepper would be nice.  Just enough to make you feel a little warm without sending you to soothe your burning mouth.  It’s comfort food reimagined.