Can you pinpoint a time when “I don’t think so” became “Oh, hello”?
I can. Pecan Yam Casserole.
Her name was Colette; I called her Coco. Joined by work and separated by a generation in age, we were laugh until (close to) peeing our pants friends.
On a seven-hour drive home and ready for Thanksgiving, we bounced holiday favorites.
Hers: collard greens and yam casserole.
Mine: mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and stuffing mixed together in a bowl.
When finding I had zero taste for the mashed orange with marshmallows, Coco kept her eyes on the road and after a smug chuckle followed with “you’d like mine.”
At the time, my twenty something self was sure of likes and dislikes, but nabbed the recipe thinking my family would love. And boy did they.
Thank God with age stubborn falls, because Coco was right. Not only do I love her casserole but after two decades, hers is the best I’ve had.
What Makes Coco’s Yams a Delight
- Orange juice livens the yams and spices
- Nutmeg’s the only spice added and a brilliant complement to the orange juice
- Pure tasting, balanced, and fluffy as fresh fallen snow
How to Make Pecan Yam Casserole
A range is especially helpful for Thanksgiving, isn’t it?
A 1/2 to 1 cup sugar and 1/2 – 1 cube butter is included in the recipe.
Our family’s middle is 3/4 sugar and 3-4 Tablespoons butter.
Are you for pecans, marshmallows, or both?
Yams are finished when:
soft but not falling apart.
a fork slides through the middle (of a few bigger pieces) with ease.
Then, rinse and drain thoroughly.
At sea level, eggs can be added with all other ingredients.
At high altitude, I mix all ingredients but eggs until smooth, then add the eggs and continue mixing until light and fluffy.
The fluffier the mix, the fluffier the casserole, so whip it good!
Logic and experience tell me so, but is that true?
Smooth.
Finished is warm, set, and toasty.
Can you smell the goodness?
After this picture…
One bite lead to many.
Pecan Yam Casserole
Ingredients:
- 5 medium yams or sweet potatoes - ends cut, peeled, and chopped into 1" cubes
- ½-¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- ½ cube unsalted butter - melted
- ground or fresh grated nutmeg, to taste
- 2 large eggs
Pecan Topping
- ½-1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1-2 Tablespoons dark and light brown sugar
- ¼-½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ground or fresh grated nutmeg, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- To a large stock pot, add cut yams and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Meanwhile, combine chopped pecans, brown sugar, and spices. Set aside.
- Once a fork slides easily through the middle of a few of the largest yam pieces, rinse then drain thoroughly. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Sea Level: Add sugar, vanilla, orange juice, butter, nutmeg, and eggs. With an electric mixer start on low working up to medium-high and beat until mixture is light and fluffy.
- High Altitude Only: Add sugar, vanilla, orange juice, butter, and nutmeg. With a handheld electric mixer, beat starting on low working up to medium-high. When mixture's smooth, add eggs and continue until light and fluffy.
- Spatula the yam mixture into a 2.5 quart casserole dish. Smooth the top then sprinkle with pecan topping.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Towards the end minutes, watch the pecan top carefully for additional browning. Pecan yam casserole is finished when warm, set, and the pecans are toasty golden and the brown sugar is melted.
- Surround, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
- ovens and times vary based on dish type and size used, so please begin watching on the earlier side.
- Coco's family prefers marshmallows, some of mine do too. I've divided the dish and added these.
- this recipe can be prepped the day before and refrigerated. Let the casserole rest on the counter thirty minutes prior to baking, as direct fridge to oven contact may cause glass to break or shatter. Add the pecan topping prior to baking. An increased baking time of five to ten minutes may be necessary.
- pecan yam casserole keeps for about a week.
Nutrition
Oh, YUM! That looks heavenly!
I wish we were together to share tiny bites 😋
I read this entire recipe and saw you in each and every part until………you lost me. You completely and utterly lost me with the marshmallows. You don’t make your own?!?!?! And I’m only partially kidding and partially serious. I’ve made marshmallows before. If I’ve made them then I know for sure you must be able to make them with your eyes shut, blindfolded and nose clipped with a clothespin. BUT……given you went out and are doing a real cooking website, and cook everything in beautiful, Martha worthy, heavy ceramic dishes, and imagining how difficult clean up must be, well, I’ll give you a pass on not making your own marshmallows for half of your sweet potato/yam product.
Side note: while making our Thanksgiving shopping list one year, we had sweet potatoes on the list. Norm does our shopping (he really enjoys it when he has all day to devote to it) and suddenly the three of us were in a “sweet potato vs. yam”-off. He called us an hour later, from the store from which there is no reception (I’m convinced he piggy backed off someone’s WiFi) to gloat that Beya’s insistence of papa liking sweet potatoes all these years have been a SHAM!!! He does, in fact, prefer YAMS!!!!
Oh how I wish we could share two kitchens for our Thanksgiving cooking. You know, one for you where it is literally picture perfect (I know you put so much work into each photograph but you make it look so organic, like it’s a literal, random snapshot of how you cook) and a separate, messier kitchen where I use BPA free but.still.plastic mixing bowls along with cans and boxes of stuff. Because, you know, that’s how I role.
I love and miss you guys so much!!!
Oh-my-gosh! One kitchen-two-of-us.
I’ve never made a marshmallow. I don’t care much for them. Only if I’m trying to beat someone by throwing in the air and catching more of them in my mouth ; ) But I’m totally impressed you make them, it sounds goopy and messy and for that I’m floored. I can’t even picture the process.
I love your story about Norm. I love how he devotes a whole day. I love the interjection of piggy backing WiFi. I love how Papa got pulled into the debate. One day, I’ll tell you the full story about Sweet Potato Pie/Pecan Yam Casserole 😂
What do you mean, the food went from cooktop top photo. Easy. Just like easy as pie. I’ll send you some kitchen snaps. Every square inch of counter, living room space sacked during photos. Am I doing this right? 😝😆😅