I found this recipe a couple years back on the Southern Living site. It looked so beautiful I just had to give it a try. Turns out it is not only beautiful to behold, it is absolutely divine to eat. So if you want to please all your sweet potato lovers this Thanksgiving, the ones in the marshmallow camp and the ones who believe marshmallows are only for children, give them all what they want. You will earn big points, I promise!

• 4 ½ lbs. ruby or garnet sweet potatoes (sometimes labeled incorrectly as yams)
• ¾ c. sugar (or part brown sugar)
• ¼ c. whole milk
• ½ c. (1 cube) butter, softened
• 2 lg. eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 1 c. cornflakes cereal, crushed
• ½ c. chopped pecans
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1 T. butter, melted
• 1 ½ c. miniature marshmallows

Bake sweet potatoes in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 1 hour or until tender. Let cool to touch; peel and mash with an electric mixer. Add the sugar(s), milk, butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth. Pour mixture into a buttered 9×13-inch baking dish. *Combine cornflakes, pecans, brown sugar, and melted butter. Sprinkle diagonally over casserole in rows 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle alternate rows with marshmallows; bake 10 additional minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*If preparing casserole ahead of time, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate before adding any topping. About 90 minutes before serving, pull the casserole out of the refrigerator, leave the foil on the casserole, and bake for 30 minutes. Then follow the above instructions beginning with “Combine cornflakes….”