By Winter. Rémy's journal reaching 30 recipes — developing his own voice, pralines. The cold months in Louisiana, which are not truly cold by any northern standard but which feel cold to a people who consider sixty degrees a personal affront. The sweaters come out. The gumbo goes on. The comfort food fills the house with the smell of the stove at work, and the stove at work is the heart of the house beating, and the beating is steady, and the steady is the grace.
This is the quiet part of the year, the pause between the holidays and the crawfish, the inhale before the exhale, the resting note in the song. And the resting is necessary because the singing is coming — March and the crawfish and the azaleas and the pit firing up and the neighborhood gathering and the whole loud, beautiful, cayenne-scented life roaring back to full volume. Rest now. Cook now. The roar is coming.
Somewhere in the middle of Rémy’s thirtieth recipe, between the pralines and the pull of the cold, I found myself wanting something that required patience — something that used the oven the way winter uses the afternoon, slow and full and without apology. Sweet potato bread is that thing for me: it’s the resting note made edible, the loaf you slice while the house is quiet and the roar is still weeks away. It belongs to this season exactly.
Sweet Potato Bread
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 10 slices
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium sweet potato, roasted and cooled)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9x5-inch loaf pan lightly with oil or butter and set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed sweet potato, vegetable oil, eggs, water, and sugar until smooth and well combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- Bring the batter together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently until just combined — a few small lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
- Bake low and slow. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown.
- Cool before slicing. Let the loaf rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. The inside finishes setting as it cools.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 248 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 41g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 210mg