My Culinary Adventures: Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie

One of my English students gifted me a huge bag of sweet potatoes a month ago, and I knew I had to put them to good use because I don't think I had ever seen sweet potatoes in site before.  I used some of them to make Sweet Potato Fries, and the rest I planned on making a pie with.  In the states I always stayed away from sweet potato fries and pie because I was already so used to french fries and pumpkin pie that the idea of sweet potato anything seemed incredibly foreign and distasteful to me.  I looked upon these new recipes as a challenge to create something I actually enjoyed eating, and it worked!  With the right amount of spices, anything can taste wonderful :)  I unfortunately didn't have a regular pie crust so had to make one myself using crushed vanilla wafers, but that also turned out pretty delish.  It's topped with whipped cream, made with the whipping cream found here, some sugar, and vanilla.

Vanilla Wafer Crumb Crust Recipe

Adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups vanilla wafer cookies

1 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 egg white, lightly beaten (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place cookies in a plastic bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin or can.
3. Put crumbs in a mixing bowl and add in sugar, vanilla extract and melted butter and mix well to combine. Mixture should resemble wet sand.
4. Pour into a 9-inch pie plate (or 9-inch square baking dish) and gently spread into an even layer over the bottom and sides. Press crumbs in firmly to create a tight crust. 
5. (Optional) Use a pastry brush to gently brush the beaten egg white over the surface of the crust (you do not need to use the whole egg white).  This step will help create a seal on the crust and prevent it from getting soggy from a moist filling.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until crust just begins to turn golden brown around the edges.
7. Cool completely before using.

Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

Adapted from Food Network

I originally put the ginger in as stated in the Food Network recipe, but in the end, the ginger didn't quite complement the pie, so I've taken out that ingredient in the recipe below and instead put pumpkin pie spice, which contains a hint of ginger but combined with other spices as well so it's not too overpowering.

Ingredients

2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1/2 stick melted butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or more if you're using Honduran vanilla extract, which is insanely weak)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 cup milk

9-inch unbaked pie crust (or in this case, a pre-baked crumb crust)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes, then chop into quarters and place in a pot with boiling water.  Boil about 30-40 minutes until completely tender.
3. For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 1 cup of the sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.