Kathy, here is the recipe you requested. SIL got this recipe from Epicurious in the days before the internet was invented, so she must have seen it in their magazine. They credit the recipe to The Olde Union House in Red Bank, New Jersey, which I assume is a restaurant. This serves 12 to 14, but I don't see why it couldn't be halved for fewer people.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Pecans

Serves 12 to 14

Ingredients

• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 5 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix sugar, pecans and butter in small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
2. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Cook sweet potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain. Let stand in colander 15 minutes. Purée sweet potatoes in processor.
3. Beat eggs, syrup, vanilla, lemon juice and salt in large bowl. Mix in puréed sweet potatoes. Transfer sweet potato mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle pecan topping evenly over mixture.
4. Bake until sweet potato mixture is set and topping bubbles, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.

I found the dish to be sweet, but not overbearingly sweet. It was really delicious and even sweet potato hating hubby had a serving and declared it to be "edible" which is saying a lot for him!

The recipe has 226 reviews and is rated 4 out of 4 stars on the website. If you want to read the reviews here is a link to the recipe: Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I chose to copy/paste the actual recipe above rather than linking to it because an annoying video for chicken and kale popped up while I was trying to read the recipe. If you do go over there to look, you can't say I didn't warn you!

If you decide to try it, please let us know what you think.