Before I begin, this recipe has been in my family since my great grandmother. I share this with everyone out of love for cooking!
If you do make this dish, please send me a Note or a Telegram and show me pictures! I'd be happy to see people making this splendid dish, too!

You will need:
1 Lg Pot of Water
Glass pan (Dimensions 15 x 10 x 2 in)
6 Large Red Yams (Go for ones that are longer and thicker. If they are too skinny in areas, that part will be wasted)
DARK Brown Sugar (You want it dark, not light, and certainly NOT granulated white.)
Butter
Cinnamon
Salt
Black Pepper
Pumpkin Pie Spice

Step 1: After rinsing and washing your yams, put them in a large pot of water, and turn them on to HIGH. The yams must be boiled until an ordinary kitchen fork can barely puncture through them. (Usually, yams will be so hard that a fork can only go in through force. In this process, we only want the outside just tender enough to barely puncture.)

Progressively turn your yams so they are evenly boiling in the water. Check every yam, as some yams may cook faster (and with skinnier sections, certain parts of the yam may cook faster, so please be mindful of this.)

Step 2: Once the outer layer of the yam is tender, remove the pot of water from the stove, placing it into the sink, and running cold water over them until the yams cool down. Once cool, place your yams on a towel and dry them thoroughly (but gently).

Step 3: Gently peel the skin off your yams, careful to remove as little of the actual yam as you can. This process can be delicate and tricky, so use your paws and do it slowly. This is a labor of love (and believe me, you will love it!) Once completely peeled, towel off any moisture on the yam. If your yams are moist (I use this word because it makes people shutter and it makes me smile. MOIST!), they will not candy. The “candy” will become a syrup. Make them dry!

Step 4: With the two ends of the yam facing to your left and right, cut your yam into three even sections, then slicing once down the middle. There should be 6 yam chunks for each yam you use.
Step 5: With two fingers, coat your dish with soft butter, evenly distributing around the pan, focusing heavily on the corners and the sides (as a personal note, this is not going to be a healthy dish, so please do not skimp on the butter. Butter is made from joy and puppies laughing. Mine is infused with the tears of virgin Dutch milkmaids. But salted store-bought is fine.)

Step 6: Place the pieces of yam into the pan, making sure that each piece is not facing the same direction (this prevents the yams from sticking to each other and makes serving easier down the line.) Pour a light coat of iodized salt evenly across the yams, followed by a generous coating of Black Pepper. In cooking, sometimes it is more of knowing the sight rather than exact measurements. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon.

Step 7: Here comes the fun part. Dark Brown Sugar! Pack the sugar evenly over your yams, being sure to get into any and all crevasses. Pour a generous sprinkle of cinnamon over the brown sugar, followed by 3 light (barely noticeable sprinkles) of Pumpkin Pie Spice.
Next, you will need 2 cubes of Salted Butter. Cut into 15, thin, even slices, and place over the yams (the dimensions being 5 long, 3 wide) for once entire cube. For the next cube, cut out 6 Tbsp. of Butter, cutting every Tbsp. evenly, then cut in half. Place in a long line down the two sides between the rows of flat butter.

(If you need help on how it should look, Telegram me! I will send a picture)

Step 8: Place into the oven at 425F for 45 min. The oven must be pre-heated. At the 15 min mark, be sure to ladle the yams with the sauce that the melted Sugar makes.

A BIG WARNING! HOT SUGAR SYRUP CAN CAUSE 3RD DEGREE BURNS! PLEASE BE VERY CAUTIOUS AT THIS STAGE OF THE COOKING PROCESS!

And there you have it. To save integrity I left out only 1 familial secret ingredient. Your yams will taste SPLENDID though! This is delicious, especially at traditional holiday feasts. :3

BON APPETITE!