Ginger ~ Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Butter

Do you like Sweet Potatoes,if you answered yes,then today's preserving recipe is for you!

Looks and tastes like a mouthful of fall!  I can see this on my ThanksGiving table with some oven melted/browned marshmallows on top Mmmm...

Ginger ~ Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Butter:

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 to 4 pounds of orange-flesh sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups golden brown sugar (packed)
• 2/3 cup apple juice (I chose to use apple cider instead)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (you can use ground or grate your own like I did)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Wash your sweet potatoes thoroughly with a vegetable brush;pat dry.  Prick sweet potatoes with a fork.  Bake for 40 to 60 minutes or until tender;cool slightly.

In order to save time and have light to take good photos,I baked my sweet potatoes the evening before. So I was able to easily skin/peel them.  Since yours will be quite hot,cut them in half lengthwise,scoop out the pulp with a spoon and discard the skins.

Transfer the pulp to your food processor.  Cover and process until very smooth,scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.  ~ Tip ~  If you are having a hard time getting the sweet potato pulp to process to a smooth consistency,add some of your apple juice to help get it going.

The pulp will be very thick and smooth after processing,use a spatula to transfer to a stock pot.

Here the recipe says to only transfer 4 cups of the pulp to the stock pot,and set the rest aside for another use,I ignored that and transferred all of the pulp(since this is a freezer recipe and not a actual canning recipe).  Which gave me one more container at the end.  You can do whichever you like.

Add your,brown sugar,apple juice (or the remaining juice if you used some in the previous step),lemon juice,ginger,salt,and nutmeg to the sweet potato puree.  Using a plastic or wooden utensil stir to incorporate all the ingredients.

Bring to boiling;reduce heat.  Simmer,uncovered,for 30 minutes stirring frequently.  If it spatters,reduce heat further.  I did not have a problem with spattering,but found it necessary to stir Very Frequently to keep it from sticking.  So make sure you can give this your Full attention during the 30 minute cooking time.

Spoon into your containers,mine are ziploc 8oz freezer containers.  You can use any freezer containers,including mason jars.  If you follow the recipe and use only 4 cups of puree you should only have 5 containers.  If you followed my example and used all of the puree you should have 6 containers.   Remember to leave 1/2 inch headspace for expansion.  Let cool completely before placing the lids on containers and freezing.

Store in the refrigerator for up to one week or freeze for up to 6 months.  Enjoy!  

Sorry for all the excess space at the bottom of this post,I have no clue how it happened or how to fix it.