Preheat oven to 350F.

1. Place baked sweet potatoes and almonds in food processor. Process until smooth. Heat the potato mixture in a non-stick frying pan.

2. Place 1/2 cup of the sugar in a saucepan. Turn the heat up. Let the sugar brown, stirring constantly. Be careful it doesn't burn too much. Try to achieve a warm brown caramel color. When the sugar is properly caramelized, pour almost all of it into the hot sweet-potato mixture. Stir it in quickly, because the caramel hardens almost instantly, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan to include all the sweet potato mixture and as much of the caramel as possible.

3. Place the pudding into a glass pie pan, individual ovenproof baking dishes or scooped out orange rinds.

4. To prepare the meringue, place the egg whites in a small mixing bowl. Mix at highest speed, until the whites are frothy and semi-stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Slowly beat in the remaining sugar. Continue beating until the meringue is shiny and the peaks are stiff. Stir in the vanilla.

5. Top the pudding mixture with the meringue. Make peaks by touching the meringue lightly with the spatula. Bake for 15 minutes in 350F oven, until the peaks are golden brown. Remove from oven.

6. Reheat the remaining caramel in the pan. Drizzle this over the top of the meringue. Serve the dish warm.