AI-generated image
Sweet potato pie
Spiced, silky Southern custard pie for the holidays
AmericanSweet potato pie is the Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert of African American kitchens across the South, from Mississippi Delta church suppers to Sunday dinners in Atlanta. Roasted orange sweet potatoes are mashed with butter, evaporated milk, eggs and warm spices into a filling lighter and silkier than pumpkin pie. Chef's tip: roast the sweet potatoes whole rather than boiling them; you get a deeper, sweeter, less watery filling.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 10 ½ oz shortcrust pastry
- 1 ½ lb orange sweet potatoes
- 2 ⅛ oz buttermelted
- 5 ½ oz soft brown sugar
- ¾ cup evaporated milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Roast the 1 ½ lb orange sweet potatoes on a tray for 50–60 minutes, until completely soft and oozing. Cool, peel and mash until smooth; you need about 450 g.
60 minStep 2: Roll the 10 ½ oz shortcrust pastry to line a 23 cm pie dish, crimp the edge and chill. Turn the oven to 350°F (325°F fan).
15 minStep 3: Beat the sweet potato with the 2 ⅛ oz butter, 5 ½ oz soft brown sugar, ¾ cup evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp grated nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp salt until silky. Push through a sieve for a very smooth pie.
6 minStep 4: Pour into the pastry case and bake for 50–55 minutes, until the edges are set and the centre has a slight wobble. A common mistake is baking until it puffs and cracks, which means overcooked custard.
55 minStep 5: Cool completely on a rack, at least 2 hours, before slicing.
120 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 15 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sweet potato pie take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of orange sweet potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walaluFried urad dal rings in treacle
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Apple & pear puree
A smooth, naturally sweet puree of gently stewed apple and pear, one of the first foods for babies of 4–8 months. The fruit cooks in a little unsweetened apple juice, so nothing else is needed. Serve it lukewarm; any leftover keeps covered in the fridge for a day, or freezes well in small pots.
Perfect for:Thanksgiving