The beauty of this casserole is it may be prepared a day in advance. If preparing a day in advance I'd leave off the nuts till ready to bake. I added the carrots for richer color and flavor. Boil sweet potatoes and carrots till very tender. Drain then set aside to cool. Mash or use a hand mixer on potatoes and carrots when they are cool. Add orange juice, half and half, 3/4 of the butter, 2/3 brown sugar, orange zest, salt and 3/4 spices. Mix nuts with 1/4 spices, 1/3 brown sugar, and 1/3 melted butter. Sprinkle nut mixture over the top drizzled with butter or bread crumbs. Place mixture in an greased or buttered 8 x 8 or 9 x 12 casserole baking dish and bake in preheated 350 F oven for 15 minutes till nuts are browned. If baking the next day, refrigerate casserole then let it come to almost room temperature and then add your nut mixture and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. I chose not to use nuts and used GF bread crumbs instead.
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium carrots, chopped approximately same size as sweet potatoes
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup half and half or cream
2 eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1 teaspoon nutmeg, divided
1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or peanuts, even bread crumbs
I love sweet potato. I would leave out the carrots though - for some reason I only like them raw.
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