A groundbreaking conceptualist and educator, American artist Charles Gaines explores how art can conform to systems, and work against them. Employing rules-based processes, he generates grid-like compositions, often involving the structures of trees, faces, music and language. Gaines attributes his detailed formula for Southern-style candied yams to his mother, Amelia. ‘It is tricky because I couldn't get exact measurements from my mom, but came up with my own proportions that come close in taste to my mom's yams,’ says Gaines, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina. ‘It is traditional Southern-style, but the difference is the use of milk, [which is] not usual in a Southern yam recipe’. The resulting sweet-meets-root vegetable flavour sits somewhere between candied yams and sweet potato pie.
Ingredients
5 medium-sized yams (or sweet potatoes)
8 tbsp salted butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground clove
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
½ cup heavy cream (or double cream)
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.
Boil the yams until the skins loosen and the yams are slightly softened but still firm. Allow to cool just enough to be able to handle them and then peel off the skin. (They should be easy to peel at this point, with the skin coming off with little effort.) Cut the yams into ½in slices and place in a 8”’x12” baking dish, layered in rows like fallen dominos.
Melt the butter in a pan. Once melted, turn off the stove and add the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup of granulated sugar and vanilla extract, then mix all together. In a separate bowl, mix ¼ cup granulated sugar with the cream, then add this to the candied mixture.
Pour the candied mixture over the yams, cover the dish with foil and cook for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and baste the yams with the candied mixture. Sprinkle the top with the remaining brown sugar, then cover and return to the oven for another 20 minutes.
Allow the dish to sit for ten minutes before serving.
RELATED STORY
* As featured in our monthly Artist’s Palate feature
-
The 2024 Ivor Novello nominations for songwriting have been revealed77 British and Irish songwriters and composers make up this year's nominees, announced tonight at London's Groucho Club
-
Why Bollinger’s La Grande Année 2015 champagne is worth celebratingChampagne Bollinger unveils La Grande Année 2015 and La Grande Année Rosé 2015, two outstanding cuvées from an exceptional year in wine-making
-
Lexus installation explores time at Milan Design Week 2024Lexus brought designer Hideki Yoshimoto’s ‘Beyond the Horizon’ to Milan’s Art Point, part of its ongoing series of collaborations with Fuorisalone
-
Artist’s Palate: Cerith Wyn Evans’ recipe for LaverbreadDeep-dive into Cerith Wyn Evans’ gleaming, gelatinous recipe for Laverbread, as seen in this month’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
-
Helen Pashgian’s recipe for summer cornTry Light and Space artist Helen Pashgian’s characteristically precise recipe for ‘summer corn’, as seen in this month’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
-
Artist’s Palate: Dolce & Gabbana’s pasta alla Norma‘We like the simplest recipes of the Sicilian tradition,’ say designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of their choice of pasta alla Norma for this month’s Artist’s Palate. Here, the recipe to make the definitively Italian dish yourself
-
Artist’s Palate: Cooking Sections’ ‘Back to Earth’ tomatoes on toastEnjoy Cooking Sections’ tomatoes on toast (pictured with a Seaweed Seeper), which is served at The Magazine alongside chickpea tabbouleh, and rhurbarb and quinoa cake. As seen in this month’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
-
Artist’s Palate: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s recipe for omelette aux fritesTravel to a new dimension with Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s recipe for omelette aux frites. As seen in this month’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
-
Artist’s Palate: Shilpa Gupta’s recipe for methi thepla‘This simple homemade bread is my childhood favourite comfort food,’ says Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta of her methi thepla recipe for this month’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
-
Bosco Sodi’s recipe for Brussels sproutsGather round for Bosco Sodi’s simple yet imposing recipe for Brussels sprouts.
-
Mickalene Thomas’ recipe for duck with chimichurriTry Mickalene Thomas’ take on a much-cherished recipe for duck with chimichurri. As featured in our monthly Artist’s Palate series, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
