The BEST Candied Yams Recipe (without corn syrup!) (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between candied yams and candied sweet potatoes? ›

Yams and sweet potatoes differ in flavor and appearance, and they are not related. Sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family, while yams belong to the lily family. Yams aren't as sweet as sweet potatoes, and they are starchier and drier. Their texture and flavor are more similar to potatoes or yuca.

As soon as sweet potatoes start to heat up during cooking, a special enzyme particular to sweet potatoes goes to work. This enzyme breaks down the tasteless, chalky starch into maltose – in other words, the starch becomes sugar. Maltose is only about a third as sweet as table sugar, but that's plenty sweet for us!

Tips for the Best Candied Yams

Don't refrigerate them, as they'll dry out and be less tender after cooking.

Although both veggies are very close in fiber, protein, vitamin C, and magnesium, sweet potatoes are the healthier option because they are lower in overall calories, lower in carbohydrates, and higher in beta carotene (vitamin A).

The six (6) edible yam species are Dioscorea alata (water yam), Dioscorea rotundata (white guinea yam), Dioscorea esculanta (Chinese or lesser yam), Dioscorea cayenensis (yellow guinea yam), Dioscorea bulbifera (aerial or bulbils yam)and Dioscorea dumetorum (trifoliate or bitter yam) (Purseglove, 1972; Degras L. 1993).

Browning butter packs in tons of flavor, without dulling the sweet potatoes. Slow-roasting the sweet potatoes activates endogenous enzymes that bring out their natural sweetness. A touch of maple syrup, butter, and a bit of chopped thyme are the only embellishments these naturally sweet sweet potatoes need.

So if you want a sweet, sweet potato, you have to cook it until it reaches 135–170°F (57–77°C). And you want to keep sweet potatoes in that range for as long as possible. That will maximize how sweet the potatoes taste.

You can still eat sweet potatoes if you have diabetes, assures Huff. The fiber content in sweet potatoes, especially if you consume them with the skin on, can help reduce spikes in your blood sugar. Plus, how you cook your sweet potatoes can also help reduce the extent to which your blood sugar rises.

Do you boil yams before baking? Boiling yams before baking help reduce the baking time. You can certainly boil them before cooking but I love yams that have been slowly roasted in the oven.

But are they really candied yams? In the United States, most of the candied yams are actually made from sweet potatoes.

What are the sweetest yams? ›

Sweetest is subjective but relatively speaking, Garnets and Hannahs are mildly sweet. Purple and Jewels are moderately sweet and the Japanese variety tend to be the sweetest.

Drain the syrup: This is a key move so your candied yams don't turn out runny due to too much liquid in the baking dish. Place the drained yams into a medium baking dish. Dice the butter: Cut the cold butter into small pieces and distribute them evenly over the yams.

The ooze is actually referred to as "sap." It is made up of sugar and starch combined with the moisture found in the vegetable, and it escapes out of the damage made from the knife. The sap really equals the sweetness. If it's pouring out of your potato, that means it's a sweet and delicious vegetable.

TIPS & TRICKS to Make this Recipe: The main secrets to achieving that incredible crispy texture, is to soak the cut sweet potatoes in cold water for at least 30 minutes. This helps remove the starch from the sweet potatoes so they´re not limp & soggy.

But back then, the sweet potato was also white or yellow in color. In the 1930s, a new orange version was cultivated, and to differentiate it from the white sweet potatoes, farmers borrowed the slang phrase "yams" that slaves from West Africa had used to describe them.

African slaves, recognizing the sweet potato as the closest thing on these shores to the yams they knew, called them by the same name and embraced them in their cooking, further expanding the American sweet potato repertoire.

Sweet potatoes tend to have a more tapered shape and may be firm or soft with thinner skin. Generally, sweet potatoes taste sweeter than yams. You will more readily encounter sweet potatoes during your regular grocery run, but if you spot a yam, which may be labeled "sweet potato," you'll know the truth.

Yams vs Sweet Potatoes

The yam is much harder than the sweet potato and takes longer to cook. They taste better roasted with savory seasonings. Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet and we all recognize that familiar golden orange found in our pies and of course our candied yams.