Savoring the taste of fall with sweet potato Cool Whip

I'm not a big dessert person - I used to have a sweet tooth larger than Bazooka Joe's, but somewhere along the way, things changed. When I'm hungry, I crave salt. As a result, my dessert-making abilities have fallen to the wayside. However, tonight I felt like a fall-inspired dessert, and I didn't want pumpkin pie (I'll be eating enough of that on Thanksgiving). I decided to research some recipes using sweet potatoes, and found complex recipes for sweet potato bread pudding, sweet potato bread, and sweet potato cookies - I just wanted something simple. After standing in the baking aisle at my local grocery store for a solid 20 minutes, I got it: sweet potato whipped cream with store-bought pound cake. Don't ask me how that lightbulb went off; I think it was a mix between a craving for fall flavors and simplicity. So, here it is: my recipe for very easy sweet potato Cool Whip ($2, Stop & Shop) which I served atop freshly-made pound cake ($3.99, Stop & Shop) and chopped pecan halves ($1.89, Hannaford). This dessert was seasonal, and had just the right amount of sweet potato and nutmeg/cinnamon flavor, without overpowering the delicious taste of Cool Whip.

Sweet Potato Cool Whip
Serves: 25

-3/4 of a 15 oz. can cut sweet potatoes, in syrup - mashed ($0.99, Hannaford brand)
-8 oz. tub of Cool Whip
-1/4 tsp.ground nutmeg
-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
-Pinch of ground ginger

Directions: Drain sweet potatoes, and rinse quickly with water. Mash in a blender, or with a potato masher. In a separate bowl, fold into Cool Whip. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix well, and let sit in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to allow flavors to mesh. Serve over pound cake, with crushed pecans (I just bought a small bag of pecan halves, and broke them up into pieces).

How do you easily incorporate the taste of fall into your desserts?

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