My Mother's Jamaican Sweet Potato Pone Recipe

Sweet potato pone is probably Jamaican as Bob Marley is reggae music. I been around the Internet looking at various recipes but I have yet to see sweet potato pone the way we Jamaican make it and I should know as I am a Jamaican.

I can remember the days as a kid my mother would be in the kitchen grating sweet potato and coconuts to make sweet potato pudding for the week end and I would get to lick out the bowl when she was finished. Before I give you the recipe of my mother's Jamaican sweet potato pudding let me share with you some of the things I learned about this amazing tuber sweet potato. In case you are wondering; Yes, Sweet Potato Pone is Sweet Potato Pudding. Different name same sweet taste.

Sweet potatoes are more than just a filling food. Did you know Scarlet O'Hara had a 19-inch waist, which she kept by dieting on the sweet potato. Packed with important vitamins like A, C and B6, sweet potatoes have great antioxidant properties. They are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, potassium and iron. The sweet potato is a member of the morning glory family it's not a yam or related to the white or irish potato except by name only, It helps prevent cancer, heart disease and can help preserve your memory. It is rich in complex carbohydrates and low in calories. It has essentially the same protein patterns as a commercial dietary supplement known as Caiapo, marketed to control blood glucose in diabetics. Sweet potato is a low glycemic index food meaning it releases glucose slowly into the bloodstream that's great for diabetics.

Nutrients found in 100 grams of sweet potato:

Carbohydrates - 20.1 gm
Sugars - 4.2 gm
Dietary fiber - 3.0 gm
Fat - 0.1 gm
Protein - 1.6 gm
Vitamin A - 709 µg
Beta-carotene - 8509 µg more than 250% of your daily requirements
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) - 0.1 mg
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) - 0.1 mg
Niacin (Vitamin B3) - 0.61 mg
Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5) - 0.8 mg
Vitamin B6 - 0.2 mg
Folate (Vitamin B9) - 11 µg
Vitamin C - 2.4 mg
Calcium - 30.0 mg
Iron - 0.6 mg
Magnesium - 25.0 mg
Phosphorus - 47.0 mg
Potassium - 337 mg
Zinc - 0.3 mg

And now what you all been waiting for My mother's sweet potato pone recipe (Hope she doesn't kill me for telling the family secret)

2 lbs. sweet potatoes (uncooked)
1/2 lb. brown sugar
1 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/4 lb. raisins
1 large coconut, grated (required 3 1/2 cups coconut milk)
1 qt. warm water
Add cornmeal as needed

Finely Grate sweet potatoes. Express the milk from the grated coconut by adding 2 cups warm water at a time and squeezing the milk through a fine strainer until you have obtained the required 3 1/2 cups coconut milk (Save the coconut trash).

Combine coconut milk and sugar, mix until sugar is almost dissolved. Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon butter, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, raisins, and grated potato. Then add cornmeal and coconut trash gradually. Pour all into a greased pyrex or other baking dish and bake in a moderate oven at 375 degrees until the pudding is cooked, approximately 1 hour.

Note: It is best to use a large coconut but if not procurable, then use two tins of coconut milk. The use of the coconut trash is optional and only adds more fiber to the pudding.

My wife told me of this method and I thought to share it with all of you

2 lbs Sweet Potato grated

1/4 lbs grated yam

1/2 cup flour

1/4 lbs raisins

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tin evaporated milk

5 cups coconut milk

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 oz. butter

Optional

1/2 cup sherry

1/2 cup rum

Pre-heat oven tp 350 F

mix together  yam, potato, flour, raisins, and baking powder

Mix separately evaporated milk, coconut sugar, vanilla, nutmeg salt, sherry rum and butter.

Then pour milk mixture into potato mixture blend until smooth.

Pour into a greased 9" loaf tin.

Rest for at least 30 minutes.

Bakes at 350 F fro about an hour or 1 1/2 hours until center is set.

Serve hot or cold.