Pain patate (sweet potato pudding)
Pain patate is a Haitian sweet potato pudding made from sweet potato, coconut, evaporated milk and spices. It is found throughout the Caribbean, with recipes and methods varying from island to island.
These recipes were inspired by CBeebies' JoJo & Gran Gran programme.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 900g/2lb white sweet potatoes, peeled and finely grated (use orange if you can’t find white )
- 200g/7oz plain flour
- 60g/2¼oz freshly grated coconut or desiccated coconut
- 100g/3½oz dark muscovado sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 5g/â…›oz fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 x 400g/14oz tin coconut milk
- 1 x 400g/14oz tin evaporated milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 overripe banana, mashed
- 2–3 tbsp icing sugar, to dust
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and grease a medium, deep baking dish with the butter.
Tip the grated sweet potato into a bowl and add the flour, coconut, sugar, spices, fresh ginger and salt. Mix until combined.
Pour the coconut milk, evaporated milk and vanilla extract into a separate bowl. Whisk until evenly combined, then slowly pour into the sweet potato mixture to avoid any lumps – it will look a little wet, but that’s fine. Add the mashed banana and stir to combine.
Place a pan over a low-medium heat and pour in the sweet potato mixture. Cook, stirring gently, for about 15 minutes. The sweet potato will begin to cook and the colour and texture will change slightly.
Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading out evenly. Cover with a layer of baking paper, followed by a layer of foil.
Bake for 75–90 minutes or until a dark crust forms on top and a knife inserted into the pudding comes out clean. Allow to cool a little, then dust with the icing sugar. Slice into pieces and serve warm.