Sweet Potato Pie

I feel sort of guilty: I keep talking up how I am going to make sweet potato gnocchi with our sweet potatoes but I just haven't been feeling it.  I really want to try the recipe I suggested, so maybe another post will be dedicated to it in the future.  Until then, I will not mention it again.  I need to move on from the potato pasta...

My sweet tooth has been dominating my palate lately.  So, with a tupperware full of cooked sweet potatoes (which I had baked with the intention of making the gnocchi) I turned to one of my favorite Southern pies: sweet potato pie!

This recipe is AMAZING!!  It is the best sweet potato pie I have ever had, and my husband said it was the best he's ever had (and he has had a lot, growing up in TN).  Thank you, Farm Share, unexpectedly, for the produce that made this dessert!  As my husband said, this dessert was "decadent!"  It was surprisingly light and fluffy; smooth with a more complex flavor than the sweet potato pies we're used to.

Sweet Potato Pie

(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/4 lbs.)

1/2 stick (1/4 c.) unsalted butter

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. whole milk (we used soy milk as substitute)

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

I added 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbs. dark rum

1 tbs. all-purpose flower

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell*

* For the pie crust, I made my own (see previous posting for recipe) and added 1/4 c. finely chopped pecans.  I used a food processor to chop the pecans as finely as possible.  You have to have pecans somewhere with sweet potato pie!

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and roast them on a shallow baking pan in the middle of the oven until very tender, about 1 1/4 hours.  Cool to room temperature.

Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and place a shallow baking pan on the bottom rack.

Scoop the flesh from potatoes into a bowl and discard the skins.  Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork until smooth.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar.  Add the melted butter mixture to the sweet potatoes with the milk and the eggs and beat with a whisk until smooth (I used a standing mixer which worked wonders!).  Whisk in the remaining ingredients (the filling will be quite liquid).  Pour the filling into the pie shell.

Carefully transfer the pie to the heated shallow baking pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until the filling is just set, about 40 minutes.  Transfer the pie to a rack to cool.