SWEET POTATO PIE Copyright The Mobile Home Gourmet, MobileHomeGourmet.com, all rights reserved.

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1 SWEET POTATO PIE Serves 8 to 10. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from a recipe in a restaurant trade journal. Because of the spices, this pie has a similar flavor to pumpkin pie, but the flavor is also different. This recipe, because all the filling ingredients are whipped in a food processor, makes a fluffier pie. The texture is creamy and smooth. Topped with a whipped cream that is flavored with a little rum, this makes and excellent dessert. Ingredients: For the Filling: 2 pounds (907g) sweet potatoes; 2 to 3 potatoes, depending on size 5 tablespoons butter, melted 3 large eggs (a large egg here in the USA is about 2 ounces/57g in the shell) ¾ cup (177ml) heavy cream 2 tablespoons bourbon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup packed (100g) dark brown sugar ¼ cup (50g) granulated white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves For the Pie Shell: 1½ cups (8 oz./227g) all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon water ¼ teaspoon salt 1 large egg; room temperature 3/8 cup (75g) butter; room temperature For the Whipped Cream Topping: 1 cup (½ pint/237ml) heavy cream 2 tablespoons sugar ½ teaspoon ground ginger Optional: 2 tablespoons dark rum Pecans, toasted, enough for garnish Directions: Heat the oven to 425 F (215 C). Wash and dry the potatoes. Pierce each one several times with a fork all over in six to eight places. Arrange on a baking sheet and roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour. Let cool until comfortable to handle. While the potatoes are cooling, prepare the pie shell dough. Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Combine the water, salt, and egg in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Add the room-temperature butter and whisk until the butter is broken into small beads. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and combine until dry enough to knead. Knead until smooth (less than a minute), and then wrap in plastic and set in a cool place until needed

2 2 Cut the cooked potatoes open and scoop out the flesh, enough to generously fill a 2-cup (437ml) measuring cup. (The weight should be around 600g.) Place in a food processor and purée until smooth. With the motor running, add the melted butter and combine. Add the eggs and combine. In a small bowl combine the cream, vanilla extract, and bourbon. Add this mixture to the food processor with the motor running. Then add the two sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and cloves. Combine well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, then set aside. Heat the oven to 375 F (191 C). Roll the pie crust dough to fill the bottom and sides of a 9 to 10-inch (23 to 25cm) pie plate. Carefully arrange in the pie dish and then scallop the edges. Fill the pie shell with the sweet potato mixture. There might be more mixture than can fill the shell. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack, then chill several hours in the refrigerator. Whip the heavy cream with the sugar and ginger until it begins to thicken. With the motor running, add the (optional) rum and continue whipping until stiff peeks form. If you prefer to drape your pie in cream, you can whip to soft peaks. Heat a skillet and toast the pecans until they begin to darken and the aroma of pecans is obvious, several minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside for garnish. To plate, cut a piece of pie and arrange on a dessert plate. Top with whipped cream and a few pecans. 1 STEP-BY-STEP Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Pierce each one in several places with a fork. Arrange on a baking sheet. I lined my sheet with parchment paper because the potatoes sometimes ooze a little syrup. Bake 1 hour in a 425 F (218 C) oven.

3 2 3 The potatoes are done when they are tender all the way through when pierced with a fork. Allow to cool until they are comfortable to handle. 3 While the potatoes are cooling, prepare the pie shell dough. Here are my ingredients for my pastry dough. I ve been using this same recipe since my college days because it always works well for me.

4 4 4 Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl. 5 In a medium bowl, combine the water, salt, and egg. Blend with a whisk. Add the butter and whisk until the butter is broken up into small beads. This is why the ingredients need to be at room temperature. The butter would be difficult to break up if it were cold from the refrigerator.

5 6 5 Combine the dough ingredients until it is dry enough to knead. 7 Transfer the dough to the counter and knead until smooth, less than a minute. Wrap in plastic and set aside in a cool place until needed.

6 8 6 Cut the potatoes open and scoop out the cooked flesh. There should be enough to generously fill a two-cup measuring cup. I weighed the two cups of potato and it was 11/3 pounds (610g). 9 Here are all my ingredients for the pie filling. To the right is my nutmeg grater, with two nutmeg pods. I prefer to work with fresh nutmeg because it has a better flavor. I keep my vanilla (near the eggs) in a dropper bottle because the dropper measures out ¼ teaspoon.

7 10 7 Purée the potato in a food processor until smooth. 11 With the motor running, add the butter (I m using the top of a plastic juice bottle as a funnel). Then add the eggs and combine until smooth.

8 12 8 Combine the cream and vanilla in a small bowl. Then, with the whisk moving, drizzle in the bourbon. The alcohol can sometimes curdle the cream (mine didn t), but this is okay if it happens. It can be blended into the potato mixture anyway. 13 With the food processor running, add the cream mixture, then add the two sugars, and finally the spices. You might need to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice to get everything to blend evenly.

9 14 9 Shape the pie crust to fill the bottom and sides of your pie dish. This dough is so easy to work with, I always shape it with my hands rather than using a rolling pin. I also shape it on a piece of parchment paper, which makes it easy to spin around while I m working, and easy to transfer to the pie plate. 15 Transfer the dough to the pie plate and shape the edges. I knew I had a lot of filling, so I shaped the edges a little high, to hold more filling.

10 16 10 Fill the pie shell. You might have more filling than can fit in the shell (all my filling fit okay). If you like the top of you pie decorated with a little cinnamon, you can sift a little on top for color. 17 Bake in a 375 (191 C) oven for 45 to 55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Although this pie looks a little wet in the center, it was thoroughly cooked. The color changed as it cooled. Also, the filling subsided a little, closing up the cracks you see around the edges. Let the pie cool on a rack, then chill in the refrigerator several hours before serving.

11 18 11 These are the ingredients for my topping. I chose not to use the ground ginger in the cream, preferring the rum alone. I toasted the pecan halves in a hot skillet for a few minutes. 19 Combine the cream and sugar in a bowl and whip until the mixture begins to thicken. Then add the ginger and/or the (optional) rum. Whip to either soft or stiff peaks, whichever you prefer. I chose stiff peaks this time. For other recipes I prefer a soft peak.

12 20 12 To plate, cut a portion of pie and top with whipped cream and a few toasted pecan halves. Conclusion Because of the spices, the flavor of this pie is similar to pumpkin pie. (Here s some trivia: In some countries they only eat pumpkin as a savory squash. They can t understand why Americans would sweeten pumpkin and bake it in a pie.) The flavor of this pie is different enough from pumpkin to stand on its own as a unique pie.