Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

• Recipe by Robert Stehling

Spoon bread, a cross between corn bread and soufflé, is a Southern classic. Stehling likes to add cooked spinach or fresh corn and chopped and sautéed bacon or ham to his plain sweet potato version.

Ingredients

1. 1 pound sweet potatoes
2. 2 1/4 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal, plus more for dusting
3. 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
6. 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
7. 3 cups boiling water
8. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
9. 1 1/2 tablespoons mild honey
10. 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
11. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
12. Scant 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
13. 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
14. 5 large egg whites, at room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. With a fork, pierce the sweet potatoes all over and set them directly on the oven rack. Bake the sweet potatoes for 1 hour, or until they are tender; let cool slightly. Slit the skins and scoop the potatoes into a large bowl. Mash until smooth. You should have 1 1/4 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. Increase the oven temperature to 425°. 
2. Meanwhile, lightly butter a shallow 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish and dust it with cornmeal, tapping out any excess. In another large bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the sugar, salt and baking soda. Melt the butter in the boiling water, then stir the butter-and-water mixture into the dry ingredients. Let cool slightly. 
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the buttermilk, honey, cumin, white pepper, cloves and cayenne into the mashed sweet potatoes until combined. At medium speed, beat in the cornmeal mixture. 
4. In a clean stainless steel bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the beaten egg whites into the sweet-potato mixture until no white streaks remain. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden and risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve the sweet potato spoon bread warm or at room temperature.

Make Ahead

The spoon bread can be made early in the day, wrapped in foil and reheated in a 350° oven.