Maple Orange Candied Yams

Why This Maple Orange Candied Yams Works

In the oven, the yam slices slowly soak up the warm maple and orange sauce. The heat softens the yams all the way through, so they go from firm to tender without falling apart. Because the slices are only about 1/4 inch thick and laid in a single layer, they cook evenly and each piece gets coated in the syrupy sauce.

While everything bakes under the foil, steam stays trapped in the dish. That steam keeps the yams moist and lets the butter and sugar melt into the maple and orange juice. The sauce starts out thin, but as the yams cook, some liquid cooks off and the sugars thicken and cling to the slices.

After the foil comes off, the top starts to dry a bit and the sugars on the surface darken and stick to the yams. The pecans toast on top and stay a little crunchy, so there is a contrast with the soft yams. The orange zest on top warms up and spreads its citrus taste through the whole dish.

Mistakes To Avoid

Cutting the yams too thick means the centers stay firm while the edges soften and break down. In the oven, the sauce bubbles and thickens before the thick slices can cook through, so the dish ends up with hard, undercooked pieces sitting in sticky syrup.

Letting the yams bake uncovered the whole time often leads to dry, shriveled slices. The liquid evaporates too fast, the sugar on top hardens and can burn at the edges, and the yams don’t get that soft, custardy texture under the glaze.

Pouring the sauce on cold and lumpy instead of melting it together in the pan leaves random pockets of sugar and butter. In the oven, some spots turn grainy and overly sticky while other areas stay pale and barely coated, so the pan cooks unevenly.

Using a much larger or very shallow baking dish spreads the yams out too far. The sauce runs off and sits in a thin layer on the bottom, so the slices don’t sit in enough liquid to soften and caramelize and can come out dry with a watery bottom.