My sister came to town for American Thanksgiving and commissioned a sweet potato pie… from me. Not only did she commission a sweet potato pie but she also asked for either fresh whipped cream or ice cream. Because I’m nice I accepted the job and went to town looking for a sweet potato pie recipe.
Oddly enough I don’t have much of a history with sweet potato pie. My fall pie of choice is either pumpkin or apple which suit my pie needs just fine. I also don’t really see a lot of sweet potato pies in my travels. I have vague memories of buying a sweet potato pie from a street fair in New York but that’s about it. So I knew I’d kind of be flying blind here with no taste memory to drive me in the quest for a fabulous sweet potato pie.
I ended up settling on this recipe by Emeril. I usually don’t turn to Emeril for answers but I decided to give him a try. I kind of wanted a Southern chef to guide me on this mission and being from NOLA, Emeril fit the bill. I actually turned to my girl Paula Deen first but all of her recipes involved a meringue topping.
There were a few things that turned me onto Emeril’s recipe. I liked that it didn’t have any wacky toppings. I liked that you roast the potatoes vs. boiling them (yay to more potato-y flavour!). I liked the inclusion of maple syrup… so many things worked for me in this recipe.
The recipe was pretty straightforward to follow. The most intriguing step was straining the sweet potatoes. After you cook them you have to sort of mash them through a strainer. It’s totally labour intensive but you end up with this really smooth sweet potato puree. Thinking back you could probably get a similar consistency in a good processor or something but there is something kind of elegant about carefully mashing the sweet potato through a strainer. I’m getting misty just thinking about it…
The pie turned out well! Truth be told it pretty much just tasted like a pumpkin pie. But a super delicious pumpkin pie! I guess the advantage of making a sweet potato pie over a pumpkin pie is that it’s easier to make it totally from scratch whereas with pumpkin pie most people by canned pumpkin puree.
For the record I did make some fresh whipped cream to go along with this and it was fantastic. I would definitely make this again.
Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
* 1 recipe Sweet Pie Crust, recipe follows
* 1 egg white, lightly beaten
* 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup maple syrup
* 2 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 4 large eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out the dough and fit to a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the shell until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the bottom with the egg white. Set aside until ready to use.
Rub vegetable oil over the sweet potatoes and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, until very soft. Remove and set aside to cool. Peel the potatoes and pass the flesh through a fine mesh sieve using a rubber spatula. This should yield about 1 1/2 cups of smooth sweet potato puree.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the sweet potato puree with the sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the heavy cream with the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the cream and egg mixture to the sweet potato mixture and stir to blend. Pour the batter into the prepared pie shell and place the pie on a sheet pan. Bake until the center is set and the tart is golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Basic Sweet Pie Crust:
* 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoons sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
* 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
* 3 tablespoons ice water, or as needed
Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening. Combine using your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together, being careful not to overmix.
Shape into a smooth ball of dough, flatten into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 days.
(Recipe by Emeril Lagasse via the Food Network)
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