Oh Sweet Sweet Potato Pie
October 30, 2006 at 10:55 AM
by Ashleigh
Sweet Potato PieOur organic vegetable bag subscription has been a delight of vegetables that we don't usually buy or actually even consider. This week - scorzonera, aubergine and sweet potatoes!
I haven't had a sweet potato since I was a child and back then I didn't like it - it was usually served mashed and I didn't enjoy the taste combined with savoury foods.
Now that I'm older and my tastes have changed, this may well be different, but in order to play it safe I decided to bake a sweet potato pie.
The internet is full of sweet potato pie recipes. I actually thought I had one in a book here, but I couldn't find it so referred to this one from the Food Network.
Looking at it though, I thought it needed changing, so change it I did. This is my adapted recipe:
Sweet Potato Pie
Pie crust:1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (white bread flour works great)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter or margarine cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
4 - 5 tablespoons iced water
- In the large bowl of your food processor and using the steel chopping blade pulse together the flour, sugar and salt briefly.
- Add the butter through the feed tube with the machine running.
- When the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs add the egg yolk.
- Pulse in short on and off bursts while adding the iced water one teaspoonful at a time.
- The mixture will begin to hold together in a ball. You'll need to watch it carefully - you don't want it too moist.
- Remove from the processor bowl, form into a flattened round and refrigerate, wrapped in clingwrap, for about half an hour. You can pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes if you're short of time, but don't leave it in there!
- After the chilling time is up, remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out very thinly between two layers of clingwrap. This is a very fiddly pastry, but if you can get this bit right you'll love the results.
- Place into a sprayed 9 inch pie plate. Trim excess dough, prick the base with a fork and crimp the edges.
- If you want to you can chill the pastry again in the freezer for another 15 minutes. I don't do this step because I'm always in a hurry!
- Line with foil, fill with ceramic baking beans and bake for 10 minutes in a 200C oven.
- Remove foil and beans and bake a further 7 minutes until the pastry is lightly coloured.
- Remove from the oven and use as directed below.
Filling:
3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
75-100 ml water.
1 cup granulated sugar (I used ordinary white sugar but I think that light brown sugar would give a great taste)
100g butter or margarine
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamom
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice ('koek en speculaas kruiden' for Dutch readers)
125 ml sour cream
3 heaped teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour, Maizena)
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Cook the sweet potato in a saucepan over medium high heat until softened and until most of the water has been absorbed. Add a little more water if you think it may run dry but not too much - you don't wan't to have to drain it. If you do inadvertently add too much liquid then drain the sweet potatoes, but reserve the liquid in case you need it later.
- Using a fork, mash the sweet potato in the saucepan. It should be the consistency of thick yoghurt.
- Add the butter/margarine to the hot sweet potatoes and stir until it's melted.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer combine the sugar, vanilla, and spices with the sweet potatoes.
- Add the sour cream, beating well.
- Beat the eggs into the mixture last of all (you don't want them to cook in the heat). At this stage the mixture is still fairly runny. If it's not, then add back a little of the reserved cooking liquid.
- Remove about five tablespoons of the mixture to a small bowl.
- Blend in the cornflour with a fork until well blended and then return this mixture to the main mixing bowl.
- Using a ladle, transfer the filling to the pastry case.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool and serve slightly warm with whipped cream.
My only complaint about this pie is that it's a little too sweet. If I make this again I'll reduce the amount of sugar down to 3/4 of a cup. It probably depends on the sweetness of the sweet potatoes too.
Try it and tell me what you think.
Enjoy!
Comments
Yum! When I saw that picture I could smell it! Sweet potatoe pie is my favorite (right next to pecan). It's a shame I only make it during holiday times. I can get the potatoes year round here. And when they're not available fresh, I can substitute the canned variety.
I'm licking my computer screen! I love love love all things sweet potato. YUM!
Looking good! I am always confused on sweet potatoes, do I need the purple ones? Or the orange..
OMG Ash, this sounds devine, and definately one that I am going to have to try out. We have had sweetpotato mash which we quite liked, but I am going to have to do this pie.
Guess what we are going to have for pudding this week now...lol
*Hugs*
October 30, 2006 11:36 AM