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GRATED SWEET POTATO–COCONUT PUDDING

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS

The South has an intense and ongoing love affair with sweet potatoes, perhaps because they grow well in most states below the Mason-Dixon. For whatever reason, good southern cooks have been dreaming up new ways to use sweet potatoes for years. This popular pudding, now nearly seventy years old, is one of the best. Tip: If you grate the sweet potatoes directly into the milk, they will not darken. If you do so, stir the milk-potato mixture into the pudding batter as directed in Step 2. If not, fold them in after the milk is added.

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

¼ cup unsifted all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

One 12-ounce can evaporated milk, plus enough whole milk to total 2½ cups

3 cups coarsely grated raw sweet potatoes (about 1 pound or 2 medium)

1 cup freshly grated or sweetened, flaked coconut

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks with 1 tablespoon confectioners’ (10X) sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional topping)

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spritz a 9 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Mix together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, flour, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl to combine. Stir in the milk mixture (including the sweet potatoes if you grated them into the milk as suggested in the Tip above). Otherwise, fold in the sweet potatoes, then the coconut.

3. Scoop the mixture into the baking pan and spread to the corners. Bake uncovered on the middle oven shelf for 50 to 55 minutes or until lightly browned and set in the center.

4. Cool the pudding in the upright pan on a wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes, then spoon up and serve. Drift each portion, if you like, with the whipped cream topping or pass it separately.

OLD KENTUCKY HOME BISCUIT PUDDING WITH BOURBON SAUCE

MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS

Thrifty southern cooks put yesterday’s biscuits to good use in this “bread” pudding. And if there are leftover raisins, they might be plumped with bourbon and tossed in. That’s the Kentucky way. This recipe is my approximation of a biscuit pudding I once enjoyed at Kurtz’s Restaurant in Bardstown, Kentucky. I failed to ask for the recipe—stupid me. If my flavor memory hasn’t failed me, I think this attempt to “crack” that recipe comes reasonably close. Even if I’ve missed by a mile, the pudding is delicious. Note: The sauce won’t cook fully; to be safe, use a pasteurized egg (see About Pasteurized Eggs, frontmatter).

Pudding

¾ cup seedless raisins or sultanas (golden raisins)

¼ cup bourbon

4 large eggs

1¼ cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 cups milk

2 cups light cream or half-and-half

6 stale 3-inch buttermilk biscuits, coarsely crumbled (8½ cups crumbs)

Bourbon Sauce

½ cup (1 stick) butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup water

1 large pasteurized egg (see Note above)

¼ cup bourbon

1. For the pudding: Plump the raisins in the bourbon for 3 to 4 hours.

2. When ready to proceed, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg in a large electric mixer bowl at high speed for about 2 minutes or until creamy. With the machine at low speed, gradually beat in the milk and cream. By hand fold in the biscuit crumbs, then the plumped raisins and any remaining bourbon. Set aside for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 2½-quart casserole well and set aside.

4. Stir the biscuit mixture and scoop into the casserole, spreading to the edge. Bake uncovered on the middle oven shelf for 60 to 65 minutes or until nicely browned, puffed, and set.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the bourbon sauce: Melt the butter in a small, heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Add the two sugars, the salt, and water, then cook, stirring constantly, until the sugars dissolve. Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles