Low Fat Sweet Potato and Ginger Pudding

If you've ever had sweet potato pie, or pumpkin pie, for that matter, you'll be right at home with these puddings.  They're creamy, spicy little sandcastles of sweet potato and ginger, made even more luscious by real maple syrup and one little egg (okay, one large egg).  

These certainly don't taste low-fat, they taste like the best childhood memories of down-home pie without that pesky crust to get soggy.  The addition of candied ginger is not too shabby, either, like a little prize of flavor at the bottom of your cracker jacks.  

The original recipe is meant to serve 8, a bit excessive in this apartment of two.  So I cut the recipe into 1/3, always a risky proposition.  Below is what I did for two puddings.  They were a bit difficult to unmold, and I had to do a little patchwork salvaging once they slipped from the ramekins.  So do remember to butter your dishes well.  If you don't want to deal with flipping them over, you really could just eat them straight from the dishes.

Low Fat Sweet Potato and Ginger Pudding

Serves 2

1 sweet potato

1/2 cup low fat milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 large egg

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

pinch salt

Scant tablespoon candied ginger, chopped

Extra candied ginger for garnish

Grease two ramekins (I used two different sizes, but all was fine) and set aside.  Clean the sweet potato, cut in half, and drop it into a pot of boiling water for about 25 minutes, until it is very tender.  Remove the sweet potato from the pot and run it under cold water briefly so that it's cool enough to handle and slip off the skin.

In a separate bowl, mix all the other ingredients except the candied ginger.  Put this mixture, along with the sweet potato, into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Mix in the chopped candied ginger by hand.

Pour the mixture into the ramekins (it's fine to fill them to the top), then place the ramekins into a bain marie, in other words, into a large baking dish that is filled with warm water which should come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  

Into an oven preheated to 350, place the puddings and bake for about 1 hour, until the sides just pull away from the edges (not as much as a cake might, in my experience) and a knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Remove the ramekins from the bain marie and place on a cooling rack for at least 20 and up to 45 minutes, but no more.  Invert onto serving dishes and enjoy.

Notes

* Sweetened or flavored whipped cream would be dreamy on these!