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Soetpatats (Afrikaans candied sweet potato): photo of the dish
Illustrative photo: Discott — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Holidays & entertaining

Soetpatats (Afrikaans candied sweet potato)

Sweet potatoes cooked slowly in a syrup of sugar, butter and spices until tender and caramelised. It is the traditional sweet-and-savoury side dish of festive meals and Sunday lunches in South Africa.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

Sirop

Spices & seasoning

Optional extras

On the side

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into large chunks about 4 cm long.
  2. In a large casserole, melt the butter over low heat with the brown sugar, water, cinnamon, cloves and a pinch of salt.
  3. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring, until you have a slightly thick syrup.
  4. Add the sweet potato pieces to the syrup and turn them to coat.
  5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then turn the pieces over and spoon the syrup over them.
  6. Continue cooking uncovered for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the syrup caramelises.
  7. Off the heat, remove the cinnamon and cloves, then stir in the lemon juice, vanilla and nutmeg. Scatter with pecans if using, and serve warm.

Variations and tips

Spiced version. Add a pinch of ground ginger and a little cayenne pepper to the syrup.

Using what you have. If brown sugar is hard to find, use raw cane sugar or any dark sugar instead.

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Original Ecomely recipe.