Suiito Poteto

Ingredients

• 14⅛ ozSweet potatocook until soft, peel and mash
• 1⅔ ozButterat room temperature, mixed into the warm mash
• 1 ozSugarto sweeten the mash
• 1Eggbeaten or yolk only, for glazing and binding
• 1 tbspCreammakes the mash smooth (optional)
• 2 tbspSoy milkunsweetened, instead of cream (optional)
• 1 tbspHoneyalternative sweetener for the cookie version (optional)
• 3½ ozPancake mixfor the cookie version only, binds the dough (optional)
• Black sesame seedssprinkled on top before baking (optional)
• Saltin the mash and coarse for sprinkling (optional)
• Peppercoarsely ground, for sprinkling (optional)

Method

1. Cook the sweet potato until soft: either about 5 minutes in the microwave at 600 watts, or cut into slices and simmer in water for around 10 minutes, until a knife slips in easily.
2. Peel the sweet potato while it's still hot, or scoop the flesh out of the skin with a spoon. If you want to use the skin halves as edible cases, hollow them out carefully and set them aside.
3. Mash the flesh smooth with a fork or a masher while it's warm — once it cools it becomes much harder to work with.
4. Stir the butter and sugar into the hot mash until the butter has melted. Mix in the cream or soy milk until the paste is smooth, and season with a pinch of salt if you like.
5. Heat the oven to 180–390 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
6. Divide the mixture and shape it: fill the hollowed-out skin halves, or model small sweet-potato shapes by hand. Set the pieces on the sheet.
7. Brush the tops with beaten egg, or with yolk only, and scatter over black sesame seeds if you like.
8. Bake for 15 to 30 minutes, until the surface is golden and glossy. Let the pieces settle on the sheet for a moment, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Tips and variations

The classic version of Suiito Poteto uses the hollowed-out sweet potato halves as edible cases, filled and baked along with the mixture. For soft cookies, knead the mash with pancake mix and honey into a dough, roll it into a log, chill it for 30 minutes, cut 5 to 6 mm slices, sprinkle them with black sesame and bake for 15 minutes. For a sweet-and-salty version, thicken the mash with soy milk and salt over low heat, shape small sweet-potato forms and sprinkle them with coarse salt and pepper before baking. Salted butter in place of unsalted gives the mixture more depth. They taste best warm, with tea.