Best Sweet Potato Pie (better than pumpkin- really!!)

After 40-ish years of saying pumpkin pie was a my favorite, I've had an epiphany. I love Sweet Potato Pie! Several years ago we went to Mississippi for a vacation and to visit relatives. We found an amazing restaurant there that was so good we had to return multiple times. On the menu was something called Sweet Potato Brulee. I love crème brulee, but this was a side dish along with green beans and corn. I had to try it, and was hooked! It was basically a sweet tater pie filling put into a shallow ramekin, topped with brown sugar and bruleed with a torch. I nearly died! And since it was a “side dish” I considered it to be a healthful part of my diet- right up there with green leafy veggies. No salad for me, thanks, I'll have the Sweet Tater Brulee! I ordered it for every meal we had there, and then went on to have dessert. Don't judge, it was a vegetable side dish...

I mean, actually think about it. When you cook pumpkin and taste it, you get a very vegetative taste with little sweetness. Cook a sweet tater and taste and it is bursting with natural sugars and has an insidious little voice that whispers, “Add some brown sugar and butter, you'll love me...” I have grown my own pumpkins, roasted them, pureed and canned them, made pies and breads from them. And now I realize I had been cavorting with the wrong vegetable/fruit. You know what I'm sayin'.

This year we went on vacation to Alabama. On our way home through Mississippi there was a roadside truck selling- what else?- sweet potatoes! I bought some as a sweet reminder of our trip. All the kids were coming over last night for homemade chicken and dumplings and I got to staring at those taters...

I have what I think is the very most luscious sweet potato pie recipe- ever! It came from on old cookbook all about one blissful thing- PIE. And what's funny is that this is my moma's copy that she passed on. Soon after, my mother-in-law gave me her copy! It must have been the real “go-to” book of that generation, and I can see why. There are so many amazing recipes that I could never cook them all. And most are as simple as this one. Nowadays it seems like the fad in recipe books is to do something over the top, or throw in some weird ingredient that really does nothing for the dish, just so it will be different. Well, sometimes simple and tried-and-true is better. Like the case with this pie- yum!!

Now, don't go all squidgy on me at the thought of sweet taters in pie. Do you like pumpkin pie? If you do, I just know you will love this. It is so velvety and smooth, just like a gorgeous orange custard that cuts in perfect firm slices...my mouth is watering as I write! So here is the original recipe-

This recipe assumes you know how to roast the taters so you can make the puree. In case you are sketchy on sweet taters, pick you a likely looking bunch at the store. Eyeball them to be sure that mashed they would make 2 cups. Rub the skins with a touch of oil and poke all over with a fork, just like a plain ole baked tater. Roast at 400 degrees until you can pierce all the way through with a fork. Let cool a bit and then peel. You are ready to puree!

It's a simple recipe and stands on it's own. However, there are a coupe notes I'd like to add after having made it multiple times. One is that I don't mash and strain the tater. Some pies have potato strings in them, much like the strings on a banana. Gak! Gag! Spew! No, you put your roasted and peeled taters in a blender and pour the amount of evaporated milk in the recipe over them, then puree the heck out of them. The mixture will be beautiful and smooth as silk, all ready to whisk up with the additional ingredients. Be sure to beat your eggs well before incorporating and you will have a gorgeous pie fill. I also add ½ tsp of cinnamon. Nutmeg is my all-time fav spice, but it goes so well with cinnamon that I couldn't help fiddling with the recipe. 

Really, can anything with a stick of melted butter not be blissful?

 Once I pop it into the oven, I set my timer for 16-20 minutes. That is about the amount of time that it takes my oven to make the crust edges lightly golden. You don't want to cook it too dark, because this pie cooks for almost an hour and it will brown even under foil. Cover the pie when you see the edges take color. You can cover the whole thing with a sheet of foil, tented up and then tucked down around the pie to protect the crust. I covered mine first with a sheet that I folded in fourths like a napkin and then cut out a semi-circle. When unfolded it is a full circle. I tucked this gently around the pie because sometimes foil will stick to the filling if it is not yet set. This way the crust is covered and the center bakes on. After about 10-15 minutes I covered the whole thing. It had started to get little brown blisters on the top, but I think that looks yummy. You do it how it is easiest for you.

Cook the pie for 50 minutes from start (when you put it in, not when you start to cover it) to finish. The filling will be cooked through long before that ( a butter knife will go in and come out clean), but the bottom crust will NOT be done. A soggy bottom crust is the bane of every pie baker! Don't be too hasty, let that crust cook, the filling with be just fine under it's little tent and will firm up extra nice.

While the pie is in the oven you can play with the pastry scraps. I have always loved decorating pies and moma and I made and painted ones long before the fad of today. I used cutters to make leaf and flower shapes to go on top. I have these from when I made gum paste flowers for wedding cakes. You can use cookie cutters or do it free-hand. Once the boys and I made a pie for my Pop and cut out goldfish and painted them with water tinted with food coloring. It was so cute! You are only limited by your imagination.

I tossed these in the oven with the pie at 400 degrees. I took them out after just 5 minutes, but they were already a bit over-browned. Watch your cut-outs :)

Note- if you add lots of elaborate cut-outs on top of a pie crust, make them as thin as possible. That top crust has to cook through and you don't want it thick, heavy, and doughy. If you want to decorate an open faced pie, like a berry or pumpkin, DON'T put them on the unbaked pie and then cook. My sweet daughter-in-law did this with a berry pie and was so sad when the filling bubbled and heaved and covered over her heart and star cutouts. Bake your artwork on a cookie sheet in the oven with the pie. Let your pie cool completely (don't want them to sink into a soft filling), and then decorate to your heart's content!

Lovely even without embellishment!

This pie sets up and slices perfectly and is the most delightful thing topped with homemade whooping cream and a cup of coffee. I write just like I speak, and yes, I say “whooping cream.” You go ahead and laugh, most folks do. Except my dear cousin-in-law, Lewel. She declared that she said it that way too. Whether she really does, or if it was an act of solidarity, bless her sweet heart! :)

Try this pie. Put it out on a holiday table without telling people it is sweet potato. I guarantee you will have converts from the pumpkin faction. Take it from a hard-core pumpkin girl- this pie is the cat's meow!

 "...What happened to the woman who learned her grandmama's recipes and made her man sweet potato pie? I tell you, they don't make 'em, like they used to..." ~ Brandon T. Jackson

How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young? Paul Sweeney
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