Sweet Potato Pudding
Jamaica's dense fudge-like pudding: grated yellow sweet potato bound with coconut milk, brown sugar, raisins, spice and a glug of dark rum. Baked slow.
Overview
Yellow sweet potatoes (boniato or the Caribbean white-fleshed variety if you can find them; otherwise ordinary orange sweet potatoes work) are peeled and finely grated. Combined with coconut milk, brown sugar, plain flour, raisins, mixed peel, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice and a glug of dark rum. Baked low and slow until set but still slightly wobbly in the middle. Cooled completely before slicing, this is essential, as a warm pudding falls apart.
Ingredients
Pudding
- 1 kg yellow sweet potato (peeled weight; about 1.2 kg unpeeled)
- 400 ml coconut milk (full-fat tinned)
- 200 g soft dark brown sugar
- 100 g plain flour
- 75 g raisins
- 50 g mixed candied peel (optional but traditional)
- 60 g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg (large), beaten
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
Top glaze
- 100 ml coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Method
Stage 1 - Prep
- Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan).
- Grease a 23 cm square baking dish (at least 5 cm deep) and line the base with baking parchment.
- Peel the sweet potatoes; grate finely on the small holes of a box grater (or pulse in a food processor until very fine - do not puree).
Stage 2 - Mix the pudding
- Place the grated sweet potato in a large bowl.
- Stir in the coconut milk, brown sugar, melted butter, beaten egg, rum and vanilla.
- Whisk in the flour, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and salt until smooth.
- Fold in the raisins and mixed peel.
- The mixture should be thick but pourable, like a heavy batter.
Stage 3 - Bake
- Pour the mixture into the prepared dish; smooth the top.
- Bake on the middle shelf for 1 hour.
- While baking, mix the glaze ingredients (coconut milk, brown sugar, nutmeg) in a small bowl.
- After 1 hour, the pudding will be set around the edges and slightly wobbly in the centre.
- Carefully pour the glaze evenly over the top.
- Return to the oven for a further 25-30 minutes, until the top is set and a glossy crust has formed.
- A skewer in the centre should come out with thick, moist crumbs (it will not come out clean - the centre should stay soft).
Stage 4 - Cool and slice
- Cool completely in the dish on a wire rack (2-3 hours; do not rush this).
- Once cold, cut into 10 or 12 thick squares.
Notes
- The name: "Hell-a-Top, Hell-a-Bottom, Hallelujah in the Middle" comes from the original cooking method - a heavy iron pot on coals with more coals piled on the lid; both top and bottom turned dark while the middle stayed soft. The modern oven version mimics this with a glossy crust top and bottom and a fudgy middle.
- Sweet potato variety: Look for "boniato" or yellow-fleshed Caribbean sweet potato if your local shop stocks it (Asian or Afro-Caribbean grocers usually do). Standard orange UK sweet potato is a perfectly fine substitute - the texture is identical, just slightly sweeter and more orange in colour.
- Cool fully before slicing: A warm pudding will collapse. Cold, it slices cleanly into firm, fudgy squares.
- Grate, don't puree: Grated texture gives the pudding its characteristic body. Pureed sweet potato makes it gluey.
Variations
Cornmeal pudding (variant): Replace half the sweet potato with cooked yellow cornmeal porridge for a related Jamaican classic. Pumpkin pudding: Replace half the sweet potato with grated pumpkin for a slightly lighter version.
Serving
Serve with: A cup of hot Jamaican coffee, a glass of sorrel at Christmas, or a small spoon of coconut cream for richness.
Storage
- Keeps 4 days refrigerated in an airtight container.
- Improves in flavour after 24 hours.
- Freezes 2 months wrapped; defrost in the fridge overnight.
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