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The Family Recipe Box
Every family has The One. That legendary recipe. The one that shows up at every gathering, passed down through generations and known by heart. At some point, it becomes more than just food—it’s a plateful of memories, a bowlful of love, a recipe for connection.
In our Family Recipe Box series, we celebrate a different Allrecipes Allstar each month by sharing the story behind their treasured family dish—along with everything you need to bring it to your table, too. Because recipes this meaningful deserve to be passed on. And at Allrecipes, you’re part of the family.
Name: Jessica Lawson
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Family recipe: Sweet Potato Orange Cups
Who developed the recipe: Jessica’s grandmother
When it became a family tradition: At least 100 years ago
For some kids, their first memory of assisting with Thanksgiving meal prep is tearing the bread into pieces to allow it to dry out for stuffing. For others, it’s sprinkling the French-fried onions on top of the green bean casserole (while taking a couple to snack on as “tax” for the job, of course). For Jessica Lawson, her most vivid childhood Turkey Day memory involves juicing oranges.
Lawson’s immediate family would host the large extended brood at their Chicago home. This often involved up to 40 people, “including both sides of the family, friends, and friends of friends who didn’t have anywhere to go. It was a real party!”
Allrecipes / Morgan Hunt Ward / Prop Stylist: Pheobe Hausser / Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf / Hair, Makeup, and Wardrobe: Celine Russell
Lawson’s grandmother, mother, and aunts would spend all week cooking, and the kids would lend a hand the night before. That’s when “all five of us granddaughters would be tasked with juicing and scooping out all of the oranges. It’s not a small task,” Lawson admits. But the rewards were sweet: “We loved having this orange juice for breakfast the next day.”
What they adored even more, though, was their grandma’s treat that utilized those orange skins and some of that precious juice. In the Lawson family, Thanksgiving isn’t official until the Sweet Potato Orange Cups hit the table. Essentially sweetened mashed sweet potatoes served in orange cups, “It’s like a mini sweet potato pie without the crust,” Lawson tells Allrecipes. “I ate this as soon as I was able to have solid food. I don’t remember ever not having them on the table during holidays!”
Lawson vividly remembers the first time she took the lead and whipped up Sweet Potato Orange Cups on her own. It was Thanksgiving 2021, the first after her grandmother passed away. Lawson’s parents decided to stay in California, where they retired, so it was a much smaller-than-usual Thanksgiving.
“Even though the era of the big Chicago party was over, this recipe made it feel special. It will forever remind me of my grandmother,” she says.
There are several versions of this Sweet Potato Orange Cups recipe circulating around the Lawson family because her grandmother rarely measured anything. “She cooked with her senses. We have a few recipes in her handwriting, but they always require some decoding and trial and error,” Lawson explains. So each cook has their own interpretation (“my aunt doesn’t do the crushed pineapple in hers,” Lawson adds), and the rendition below is Jessica’s.
She—and likely Grandma Lawson—would like you to take liberties, too. Add a little more or less sugar. Garnish with candied pecans instead of cherries. Pour in extra OJ to brighten the flavor even more. “This dish is very forgiving. Have fun with it! It’s a great recipe to involve kids or to cook alongside others. It brings people together in the kitchen.” And if you ask us, that’s one of the most precious parts of the holiday.
Allrecipes / Kim Shupe
Sweet Potato Orange Cups
Servings: 12
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 6 oranges, halved
- 1/2 cup sugar, or more to taste
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk or cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
- 12 maraschino cherries
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray.
- Thoroughly wash and dry sweet potatoes. Use a fork to poke holes all over each sweet potato. Set potatoes on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, juice orange halves. Carefully remove orange flesh from the rinds and discard, keeping orange halves intact. Set aside 1/4 cup of orange juice and refrigerate the rest to enjoy with breakfast tomorrow.
- After the first half hour of roasting, rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees and continue cooking sweet potatoes until a fork or knife is easily inserted into the centers, 15 to 30 minutes more. Allow sweet potatoes to cool for 5 minutes, then peel and discard the skins.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Combine sweet potato flesh, reserved orange juice, sugar, butter, extracts, eggs, milk or cream, salt, and crushed pineapple with juice in a large bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip until combined and creamy.
- Evenly distribute sweet potato mixture into the orange rind cups with a spoon or small measuring cup. Top each with a cherry.
- Transfer sweet potato cups to a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and bake until the filling is golden brown, about 15 minutes.
*Cook’s Note: If you prefer your sweet potatoes on the sweeter side, you can add more sugar, up to a total of 1 cup.
