Sweet potato pie
Sweet potato pie is a traditional dessert from the American South that often shows up at Thanksgiving. Roasted sweet potatoes mashed with butter, brown sugar and warm spices make a filling that's sweet, nutty and smooth as custard, nestled in a crisp, buttery crust.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 2 hr 10 min
- Rising or chilling
- 3 hr
- Total time
- 5 hr 50 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
For the crust
For the sweet potato filling
Instructions
Step 1
Scrub the sweet potatoes, prick the skins a few times and roast them whole on a lined baking sheet at 200°C for 50 to 60 minutes, then peel them and weigh out 450 g sweet potato flesh. Roasting instead of boiling concentrates their sweetness and keeps them from getting waterlogged. The sweet potatoes are ready when a skewer slides through easily and their syrupy juices ooze out like caramel.
Step 2
While the sweet potatoes roast, mix 170 g all-purpose flour with 10 g granulated sugar and 3 g salt, rub in 115 g cold unsalted butter until crumbly, then gradually add 50 g ice water until the dough comes together. Just enough water gives a flaky, tender crust instead of a hard, tough one. The dough is ready when a handful squeezed together holds its shape without crumbling apart.
Step 3
Press the dough into a round disc, wrap it tightly and refrigerate for one hour. The butter in the dough needs to firm up so the crust keeps its flaky layers and doesn't shrink during the par-bake. The dough is ready when it's firm and as cold as butter straight from the fridge.
Step 4
Roll the dough about three millimeters thick, ease it into a 23 cm pie dish, fold and crimp the edge, prick the bottom with a fork, then line it with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans. Pricking the bottom and weighting it with beans keeps the crust from puffing up during the par-bake. The crust is ready when the edge is evenly crimped and the beans cover the bottom right up to the sides.
Step 5
Bake the crust at 200°C for 12 to 15 minutes, remove the parchment and beans and let the crust rest while you make the filling, then lower the oven to 175°C. Par-baking keeps the runny filling from making the bottom soggy. The crust is ready when the bottom looks dry and the edge has turned pale golden.
Step 6
Mash the still-warm sweet potatoes with 60 g unsalted butter, 120 g brown sugar and 50 g granulated sugar using a mixer or a blender. Warm sweet potatoes melt the butter and dissolve the sugar evenly while breaking down the fibers. The mixture is ready when it's completely smooth and glossy with no large strings left.
Step 7
Add 100 g eggs one at a time, followed by 150 g evaporated milk, 5 g vanilla extract, 2 g ground cinnamon, a pinch ground nutmeg and a pinch salt, beating on low speed. Low speed avoids whipping in too many air bubbles, which would make the top crack and pit. The filling is ready when it's pourable but thick like a heavy pancake batter and an even orange-brown.
Step 8
Pour the filling into the crust, tap the dish gently to level the top, then bake at 175°C for 50 to 60 minutes, covering the edge with foil if the crust browns too quickly. Moderate heat sets the custard slowly so it stays smooth and doesn't crack. The pie is done when the edge of the filling is set but a center about five centimeters wide still jiggles slightly when you shake it.
Step 9
Set the pie on a rack and let it cool at room temperature for about three hours before slicing. The jiggly center keeps setting from the residual heat as it cools. It's ready when the center springs back when pressed lightly and a slice shows a smooth filling that doesn't run.
Equipment
- Oven
- Pie dish
- Rolling pin
- Hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Refrigerator
- Baking sheet
Tips
- Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes give the prettiest color and the most classic sweetness; yellow or purple ones work too, but the filling will be a different color.
- Strain the filling through a sieve if you want a perfectly smooth, custard-like slice.
- Serve the pie with unsweetened whipped cream to balance the rich sweetness of the filling.
Storage
Once cooled, cover the pie and refrigerate it for up to four days. Serve it cold, or let it sit at room temperature for about thirty minutes. You can also freeze the baked pie for up to a month and thaw it overnight in the fridge.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The top cracked wide open as it cooled.
- The pie was baked too long or the filling was beaten with too many air bubbles. Take the pie out while the center still jiggles slightly, and mix the filling on low speed.
- The filling is stringy and not smooth.
- Fibrous sweet potatoes weren't mashed thoroughly. Beat them longer with a mixer, pull off the strings that cling to the beaters, or strain the mixture through a sieve.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
