Sweet Potato Puree

Posted by on April 22, 2010 in 1st Foods | 6 Months, Baby's Food, Blog | 2 comments

For the last 2 months I’ve been buying sweet potatoes with red skin, hoping to find vibrant, orange flesh on the inside.  The past 3 times I purchased sweet potatoes for bebe E, I’ve been disappointed to find whitish yellowy-green flesh.

There’s been some confusion in our family about the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.  We always believed yams were different from sweet potatoes and had red skin and orange flesh, and sweet potatoes were strictly tubers with pale yellow or dark yellowish skin with white flesh.  We were wrong.

It turns out that what we thought were yams are actually sweet potatoes.  The dark orange to reddish skin tuber with vibrant orange flesh is a sweet potato.

So what are yams?

Well, according to About.com, the yam has black or brown skin, can grow over 7 feet (yes, this is what it says), and has off-white, purple or red flesh.

I’m still a bit confused and you might be too, or maybe just don’t care about all of this because its WAY too much information about sweet potatoes than you ever cared to read about…  So let’s just move on to the sweet potato purée for bebe E.

This is a photo of one of the WRONG sweet potatoes that I bought AGAIN.

The following is another recipe from The Baby & Toddler Cookbook.

Sweet Potato Puree

(1st Foods / 6 Months Old)

  • 2 small sweet potatoes
  • 1 tablespoon water

Wash the sweet potatoes and prick with a fork all over.

Place the sweet potatoes on a sheet of aluminum on a baking pan, and bake at 400 degrees F for 45 – 60 minutes.

Let the sweet potato cool, then cut the potatoes in half lengthwise.  Using a large spoon, scoop out the flesh of the sweet potato and transfer to a glass bowl or other BPA-free mixing bowl.

COOKING TIP: Instead of baking it, you could peel the sweet potato, rough chop and boil, but the flesh of the sweet potato quickly changes color right after you peel it.  The cooking time for the boiling method is shorter than the baking method, but I prefer baking.

Add 1/2 tablespoon water, and using a hand blender, purée the sweet potatoes to a creamy texture.  If your baby can handle thicker, chunkier foods, add less water and pulse blend until desired thickness.

Transfer 1 – 2 tablespoons to each Baby Cube.  Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

One of these days mama will find you some orange flesh sweet potatoes, bebe E.

Bon apetit little ones!

Judy | bebe mama

 

Sweet Potato Puree
Author: 
Recipe type: Baby Food
 
Appropriate for babies 6 months and older.
Ingredients
  • 2 small sweet potatoes
  • 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
  1. Wash the sweet potatoes and prick with a fork all over.
  2. Place the sweet potatoes on a sheet of aluminum on a baking pan, and bake at 400 degrees F for 45 - 60 minutes.
  3. Let the sweet potato cool, then cut the potatoes in half lengthwise.  Using a large spoon, scoop out the flesh of the sweet potato and transfer to a glass bowl or other BPA-free mixing bowl.
  4. COOKING TIP: Instead of baking it, you could peel the sweet potato, rough chop and boil, but the flesh of the sweet potato quickly changes color right after you peel it.  The cooking time for the boiling method is shorter than the baking method, but I prefer baking.
  5. Add ½ tablespoon water, and using a hand blender, purée the sweet potatoes to a creamy texture.  If your baby can handle thicker, chunkier foods, add less water and pulse blend until desired thickness.
  6. Transfer 1 - 2 tablespoons to each Baby Cube (BPA-free baby food storage containers).  Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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