My childhood experiences with sweet potatoes were not all that great. Even from when I was very young, I recall thinking that we could probably find something better to do with sweet potatoes than overcook them in a Pyrex dish with nasty marshmallows. Such a beautiful vegetable, made so unappetizing … what a shame.

When I first decided to make some kind of fried maple/sweet potato concoction, in my mind it was going to be a savory side item. But iteration after iteration (6 in all) just fell short. Since it is my goal to only share recipes that are truly worth sharing, I kept at it.

After the 5th attempt at making this a savory dish, I decided to stop dancing around the issue … I really just wanted something sweeter; complex and bold, but sweeter nonetheless.

So I turned it into a dessert. Once that decision was made, the recipe almost put itself together. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Sweet Potato Napoleon with Maple Butter Sauce

Special Tools

4 qt sauce pan
paper towels
slotted spoon
candy/deep fry thermometer

Ingredients

1½ cup fine ground ginger snap crumbs
1 tsp ground ginger
⅛ tsp ground cloves
2 Tbs maple sugar
1½ cup flour
1 egg white
1 Tbs milk
32 oz refined safflower oil
1¼ cup maple syrup
3 Tbs salted butter
1 large sweet potato
salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

For Maple Butter Sauce

1) In a small sauce pan over medium heat, reduce 1 cup maple syrup and 3 Tbs butter by half, keeping the temperature under 220°.

For Sweet Potato Napoleon

1) Peel sweet potato and slice lengthwise into ⅜” to ½” thick slices.
2) Drizzle ¼ cup maple syrup over slices then season with salt and fresh pepper.
3) Bake slices at 375° for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
4) Place 1½ cup flour in a second large shallow bowl.
5) Beat egg white and milk in a small bowl until white is broken down.
6) In a large shallow bowl, mix the ginger snap crumbs, ground ginger and ground cloves.
7) Heat safflower oil to 380°-385° F.
8 ) While the oil is heating, dredge sweet potato slices in flour, coating them thoroughly.
9) Dip the slices in egg mixture.
10) Place slices in the cookie crumb mixture, coating them thoroughly.
11) A couple pieces at a time, deep fry the coated slices for 20 or 30 seconds. Remove promptly and place them on a bed of paper towels to cool.

Assembly

1) Drizzle a bit of the sauce on two dessert plates.
2) Stack the slices, largest on the bottom, smallest on the top and carefully cut in half.
3) Place one napoleon half on each plate.
4) Pour sauce in between each slice and over the top of each napoleon.
5) Add a small scoop of maple ice cream and serve.

Special thanks to Nate Kauffman for another great pic.