Sweet potato caramel with browned buttered nougat is so perfect for Thanksgiving. It's right around the corner. So much food, so much pie. Google has over 190 million results for "Thanksgiving pie." This is not another pie. Sweet potato caramel with a browned butter nougat takes your favorite sweet potato casserole flavors and makes them into an impressive candy that your guests will love.
This candy takes time.
Yes, this is delicious and worth it and you will need three days for this dessert. Each layer will need to set up overnight, and you'll need an extra day to cut and wrap the caramels. If you decide to make these, please read this blog post entirely and then watch the video instructions. Ask me questions, I'm happy to help! There are two recipes on this page. One is for caramel and the other one is for nougat. Using the "jump to recipe" takes you to the caramel recipe.
- 1: Make sweet potato pecan caramel
- 2: Make browned butter nougat
- 3: Cut and wrap candy.
Equipment for sweet potato caramel and nougat
- A thick bottomed, heavy duty pot. You'll use this for both the caramel making and nougat syrup. Use a minimum of an 8 quart size.
- Oven to roast the sweet potato
- Something to puree the sweet potato and milk with. I use a nutribullet smoothie maker blender, but a regular blender or immersion blender will work.
- Your candy thermometer. It's a deal breaker without one. Don't attempt. If your thermometer has seen better days, test it by taking the temperature of boiling water. It should be between 210-212F.
- A 5 qt. planetary mixer. This is used when making the nougat layer.
- High heat spatula or wooden spoon for stirring. Regular spatulas are not meant to be used in temperatures this high and they could melt.
- 9 X 13 sheet pan with edges.
- Parchment paper
- Cooking spray
Ingredients for sweet potato caramel and nougat
Sweet potato caramel
- One large sweet potato, oven roasted
- Evaporated milk
- Sugar
- Heavy cream
- Salt
- Butter
- Corn syrup
- Pecans
- Pumpkin pie spice
Browned Butter Nougat
- Corn Syrup
- Egg Whites
- Vanilla
- Sugar
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Butter
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
Day 1: Sweet Potato Caramel
At the heart of this caramel is a perfectly roasted sweet potato. It takes almost an hour to roast in the oven. It can be done in advance of making the caramel (make the sweet potato in the morning, put in fridge, make caramel in the evening). Do not puree the sweet potato until you are ready to make the caramel. Before you start adding your caramel ingredients to your pot, weigh them all out. Have them lined up and ready to go.
Day 2: Browned Butter Nougat
Browned butter steals the show in this nougat recipe. I follow instructions for browned butter from this recipe by Barley & Sage. She's an expert on browned butter and you'll never want to go back to regular butter again when cooking. Browning the butter will be your first step in making this nougat. Before you weigh any other ingredients out, brown the butter and set it aside.
Day 3: Cut and wrap
You have to wait overnight to cut these after making the nougat because the nougat needs to set up and grain. "Graining" means that the sugar is absorbing all of the extra moisture and the texture is becoming short and tender. A short texture will allow the nougat to hold it's shape when cut instead of flowing out of place. It also keeps the bite very soft and easy to chew.
What size should I cut these?
The size you cut these is personal preference. I cut them in to rectangles, ¾" in width and 1.5" in length. To wrap them I use cello candy wrappers that are precut in size, but you can use parchment or wax paper that you cut at home. Cello candy wrappers can be found at any craft store that has a baking/candy making section, or on Amazon. Make sure they are at least 5" x 5" in size to allow enough space to wrap the candy.
Storage and shelf life of sweet potato caramel and browned butter nougat
This candy should be kept at room temperature. It does not need to be refrigerated or frozen. It should be kept away from extreme heat. Shelf life is approximately 4 weeks.
Video instructions
If you loved this caramel and nougat combination, you might also love these pumpkin spice caramels with nougat and gingerbread caramels with nougat.
Sweet Potato Pecan Caramel
Equipment
- blender
- high heat spatula or wooden spoon
- 9 x 13 sheet pan with edges
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Puree
- 175 grams Sweet Potato, Oven Roasted 1 large
- 340 grams Evaporated Milk One, 12 ounce can
- 10 grams Pumpkin Pie Spice
Caramel
- 340 grams Evaporated Milk One, 12 ounce can
- 280 grams Heavy Cream
- 680 grams Sugar
- 4 grams Salt
- 200 grams Butter
- Sweet Potato Puree
- 570 grams Corn Syrup
- 300 grams Pecans
Instructions
Roast the Sweet Potato
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Wash and dry sweet potato.
- Prick sweeet potato all over with a fork
- Put sweet potato directly on oven rack. Place an aluminum foil lined backing sheet on rack underneath sweet potato to catch sugar drips.
- Bake until tender, about 50 minutes.
Puree the Sweet Potato
- Scoop sweet potato out of the potato skin.
- Combine half of the evaporated caramel with sweet potato and pumpkin pie spice.
- Puree until smooth. Set aside.
Make the Caramel
- Prepare a 9 x 13 " sheet pan by lining with parchment paper. Leave some parchment overhang so you can easily lift the caramel out when finished.
- In a heavy duty, thick bottomed pot, combine evaporated milk, heavy cream, sugar, salt, butter, and sweet potato puree.
- Cook over medium heat, while constantly stirring, until mixture reaches 230F.
- Add corn syrup. Continue cooking until 238F. Caramel will be thick. Turn off heat.
- Add pecans. Stir.
- Spread on prepared pan.
- Cool to touch. Lightly cover. Let sit overnight.
Browned Butter Nougat
Equipment
- 5 qt. planetary mixer
- 9 x 13 sheet pan (with sweet potato caramel or lined with parchment paper if making separately)
Ingredients
Browned Butter
- 150 grams unsalted butter
Egg White Meringue
- 2 large egg whites
- 100 grams corn syrup
- 6 grams vanilla
Syrup Slurry
- 580 grams Sugar
- 450 grams Corn Syrup
- 220 grams Brown Rice Syrup Honey or Corn Syrup can be used instead
- 180 grams water
Graining Agents
- 150 grams Powdered Sugar
Instructions
Browned Butter
- Add the butter to pan and melt over medium heat. Once melted stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan.
- Once you see the brown specs, remove from the heat and immediately pour into a separate heat-proof bowl. Scrape bottom of pan to get all brown specs. Set aside.
Egg White Meringue
- In a 5 quart planetary mixer bowl, combine egg whites, corn syrup, and vanilla. Mix until combined but do not start mixing. Have bowl on mixer stand ready to go.
Syrup Slurry & Nougat Making
- In a thick bottomed, heavy duty pan, combine sugar, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and water.
- Cook over high heat until syrup reaches 234F. When syrup hits 234F, turn your mixture on high to start whipping egg whites.
- Cook syrup until 252F. Turn off heat.
- Slowly stream hot syrup into whipping egg whites. This needs to be done slowly so you do not collapse egg white meringue.
- Once all the syrup is added, continue whipping on high for four minutes.
- Turn mixer to low and add powdered sugar and then browned butter.
- Mix on high for 30 seconds to incorporate all ingredients.
- Turn off mixer. Layer nougat directly over top of sweet potato pecan caramel.
- Let cool to touch. Cover lightly and rest overnight before cutting.
