Chef John's Sweet Potato Casserole

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with butter.

2. Place sweet potato cubes into a large pot, cover with water, and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until a knife is easily inserted into a sweet potato cube, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Return to the pot and mash 2 tablespoons butter into sweet potatoes.

3. Whisk eggs, maple syrup, buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, cayenne pepper, allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually mash sweet potatoes into egg mixture, starting with 2 tablespoons of sweet potato mixture, until all sweet potatoes are incorporated. Transfer sweet potatoes into prepared baking dish.

4. Mix pistachios, brown sugar, flour, and 1/4 cup melted butter together until completely mixed. Crumble topping evenly over top of sweet potatoes. Use the back of a fork to gently press pistachio mixture down onto sweet potatoes.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until topping is browned and casserole is set, 25 to 30 minutes. If desired, place under oven's broiler for 5 minutes to give topping a little more brown color. Let rest to cool slightly before serving, about 10 minutes.

Cook's Note:

The sweet potatoes I used may be called yams at the store, but the fact is that all "yams" sold in American supermarkets are really varieties of sweet potatoes. My recommendation is for using Garnet yams if you can find them. If you can't, literally any other variety will do.