These bourbon cinnamon scalloped sweet potatoes are a delicious twist on the traditional sweet potato casserole. Sweet potatoes are baked to perfection in layers of deep rich flavors of toasted bourbon, vanilla and cinnamon. Warm, cozy and a little but of moody, this gorgeous dish is ready to impress crowd.
Bourbon Cinnamon Scalloped Sweet Potatoes – the flambé
When I came up with this side, I was thinking about a Friendsgiving. Full of holiday spirit (literally).
Bourbon specifically, has toasted oak and spice notes, when flambéed, will caramelize. This extra step, combined with the vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter will make these scalloped potatoes next-level delicious.
A flambé is a cooking technique when you light high-proof alcohol on fire to burn off some of the alcohol and really deepen the flavors of the dish.
It is a myth that alcohol burns off completely. According this article, the US Department of Agriculture estimates that to burn off the most alcohol, you would have to cook your meal for about three hours. There are other factors like surface area and heat. Since we lit the alcohol on fire and it burned in front of our eyes until it stopped, you would think that it would be gone, however according to the USDA’s data lab, only 25% is burned off with a flambé.
To flambé, let’s discuss safety.
- Make sure you use a stainless steel pan with high edges. Do not use a non-stick pan.
- Make sure the pan is clean and dry.
- Have the lid to the pan near by so you can smoother the fire if necessary.
- Turn on your overhead hood/fan.
- Use a long lighter.
The flame can be intimidating and a bit scary, but remember once the alcohol burns, the flame dies. If you get too concerned you can always place your lid on top and the flame will smother out. My microwave is above my stove and it has not melted or burned.
Now that you have all of the items in the checklist, let’s flambé! It’s actually really fun.
In your pan, off the heat, add the bourbon and apple cider. Place it over medium -high heat and let the liquid start to simmer and evaporate. As soon as the evaporation starts, place your lighter near the top of the liquid without submerging and light. The flames will shoot up surprisingly fast, but then will start to die out, this recipe will burn for about 5 minutes leaving you with a thicker concentrate of bourbon apple cider.
If you don’t want to flambé, no worries you can still make the most amazing bourbon cinnamon scalloped sweet potatoes!
Skip the fire, add your bourbon into the apple cider and let it reduce together according to the recipe below. There will be less of a caramel bourbon flavor but the oak and spice notes will still be there.
The holidays have never tasted or looked so good. These bourbon cinnamon scalloped sweet potatoes are guaranteed to impress. Perfect for parties, potlucks and entertaining. If you want to make it ahead of the game, finish the recipe and bake until fork tender, then simply re-heat when you are ready to serve.
Bourbon Cinnamon Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Sweet Potatoes - peels and cut thinly (about 1/8 an inch)
- 2 cups Apple Cider divided
- ¼ cup Bourbon
- 1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 TBSP Cinnamon
- ¼ cup Butter - cut into small cubes
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Peel and cut the sweet potatoes so they are ⅛ inch thick.
- Flambé ¼ cup of the apple cider and ¼ cup of bourbon. Off the stove, In a stainless steel pan with high-sides, add the apple cider and bourbon. Place the pan over medium-high heat and allow the liquid to warm up and start to evaporate. Place your long lighter over the evaporation, not submerged in the liquid, and light. A flame will spark quickly. Let the flame burn until it burns off on its own, the apple cider and bourbon will be thicker and more concentrated. Have a lid to the pan nearby if you get uncomfortable, place the lid over the flame at any time to smother the fire out. If this is your first time read about tips and safety in the blog post.
- Once the flambé is over, add in the remainder 1 ¾ cups of apple cider, heat over medium high heat until it has reduced to about 1½ cups total. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and set it aside.
- In a small bowl, which together the brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly combined.
- In a casserole dish (9 x 13), pour in ½ of the apple cider bourbon liquid. Place down one layer of your sweet potatoes, overlapping the edges.
- Once the first layer of sweet potatoes are placed, sprinkle on brown sugar cinnamon mixture to cover and start another layer of sweet potatoes. Repeat until you have 5 total layers of sweet potatoes. The top layer should end with sweet potatoes.
- Pour the remaining apple cider and bourbon over top. Scatter with butter chunks. Cover in foil.
- Bake at 400F for 60 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender/soft. Let it sit and cool for 15 minutes.
