Sweet potato pone

Ingredients

Base

• 1 kgsweet potato, peeled and finely grated
• 200 gfresh coconut, finely grated
• or 150 g desiccated coconut, soaked

To bind

• 400 mlcoconut milk
• 100 mlevaporated milk
• 2eggs, beaten
• 80 gplain flour
• 100 gbutter, melted

To sweeten and spice

• 250 gbrown sugar
• 2 teaspoonsfreshly grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoonsground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonmixed spice
• 1 teaspoonvanilla extract
• 1 teaspoonalmond or bitters essence, optional
• 1 teaspoonsalt

Sometimes added

• 100 graisins
• 50 gcandied peel, chopped

Directions

1. Crack a dry coconut and prise the flesh out of the shell. Peel off the brown skin with a vegetable peeler. Grate the white flesh finely on a box grater. If you use desiccated coconut, soak it first.
2. Cover it with warm coconut milk for fifteen minutes. Dry coconut straight from the bag pulls moisture from the batter. Put the grated sweet potato and coconut in a very large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar and let it stand for ten minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk and the evaporated milk. Beat in the eggs and the melted butter. Sift the flour over the top and stir it through. Grate the nutmeg fresh, which makes a real difference here.
4. Stir in the raisins and peel if you are using them. The batter should be loose and pourable, like a thick soup. Heat the oven to 180C with a shelf in the middle. Grease a deep baking tin generously with butter. A tin about twenty-five by thirty centimetres is right.
5. Pour the batter in and level the surface with a spatula. Grate a little more nutmeg over the top of it. Bake it for about an hour and fifteen minutes.
6. Check it at the hour mark and then every ten minutes. The top should be deep brown and set to the touch. Leave it in the tin on a rack until it is completely cold. This takes at least three hours and is worth the wait.
7. Cut it into squares straight in the tin. Lift them out with a palette knife. It keeps for four days in a tin at room temperature.

Technique

• Pone is made across the Caribbean with different starchy roots.
• The cassava version is common in Trinidad and Guyana, and many households mix cassava and sweet potato in the same tray.

Substitutions

• Tinned coconut milk works throughout in place of fresh.
• Pumpkin can replace part of the sweet potato for a softer, wetter pone.

Variations

• Cassava pone uses grated cassava in place of the sweet potato and sets firmer.
• Some households add a splash of dark rum to the batter.
• A version with less sugar and more spice is made for breakfast.

History

A Grenadian bake sold by the slice, spiced heavily with the island’s own nutmeg and cinnamon.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sweet potato pone?

Sweet potato pone is a dessert from Grenada: baked pudding of grated sweet potato, coconut and spice, chewy at the edges. A Grenadian bake sold by the slice, spiced heavily with the island’s own nutmeg and cinnamon.

How long does Sweet potato pone take to make?

Sweet potato pone takes 30 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one tray, 12 squares. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Sweet potato pone?

Yes, within limits. Tinned coconut milk works throughout in place of fresh. Pumpkin can replace part of the sweet potato for a softer, wetter pone.