Winter is a difficult season for produce-based sweet pies. With no local fruit in season and any fruit that is on the shelves of Brooklyn stores shipped thousands of miles and zapped of flavor, options are limited. Thus, we turn to the sweet potatoes, harvested in the fall and now stored in cool, dark cellars and bottom cupboards.
The flavor of sweet potatoes has always summoned a sense of warmth for me, making them perfect for a winter dessert. The recipe I created for this pie was pulled together from reading through a number of different recipes, then seeing how far I could simplify them and still preserve the flavor and texture of a classic sweet potato pie (not counting crust preparation). The results after the jump.
Four-Step Sweet Potato Pie
-pie crust
-1 1/4 cups milk
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
-1/2 tsp. nutmeg
-1/4 tsp. ground cloves
-2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1) Pre-bake the pie crust of your choice, or for a super simple solution, go store-bought. I used this recipe from Mark Bittman.
2) Cook your sweet potatoes. My preferred way is to wash and dry the sweet potatoes, prick them multiple times with a fork, and then roast them on a cookie sheet at 400° for one hour. Let them cool for 15-20 minutes, slice the skin lengthwise, and peel it away like so:
Once peeled, mash the potatoes in a medium bowl.
3) Pre-heat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl (or food processor), combine milk, eggs, sugars, and spices. Mix well and then stir in the mashed sweet potatoes. If using a food processor, add the sweet potatoes and pulse just a few times to further puree them.
4) Pour the custard mixture into your pre-baked crust and bake for about an hour, or until the custard has set and a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.
