Sweet Potato Casserole

recipe from the King’s Arms Tavern in The Williamsburg Cookbook (1975), as in Colonial Williamsburg

3 lbs sweet potatoes
¾ cup brown sugar, packed, divided (I’ve recently decided I like dark, rather than light, brown sugar for this recipe)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Cut up sweet potatoes, with skins on, into a few pieces each (as you would if you were going to make mashed potatoes) and put them in a pan of water on the stove, bring to boil and simmer until done (approximately a half hour). Peel them and put them into a medium mixing bowl.

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Grease 1½ -quart casserole dish.
Stir in all remaining ingredients, minus 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar (I use an electric hand mixer for this step). I add the milk in at the end and a bit at a time to get the desired consistency (you don’t want to see milk pooling up when it is just sitting there), sometimes the sweet potatoes retain more water, so you’ll need less milk, you be the judge. Turn this into the greased casserole dish and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.

** I often prepare this dish a day ahead, refrigerate it overnight, and then just toss it in the oven for the last 30 minutes of baking right before the meal is ready to be served.

** I’ve also made it once adding a couple of shots of dark rum to the mix, definitely a winning combination if those tastes are to your preference.

** And if you want to cut out the fat in the recipe, I make this all the time without the butter and I honestly cannot tell the difference.