Though I featured this pie last year, I think it’s worth repeating as the main pie for your Thanksgiving desserts. Sweet potato pie puts the standard pumpkin pie in its place. I admit I’m not a pumpkin pie fan. I like it but it has never sent me wild.
On Thanksgiving pasts I’ve always prepared at least three pies plus one cake for the dessert table at Thanksgiving: Apple, Pumpkin and Pecan sometimes adding lemon meringue for “lightness .” For the cake, something like a towering yellow layer cake (at least two layers) topped with a very rich ganache.
But ever since I discovered a recipe for sweet potato pie in a 2018 issue of Garden and Gun Magazine by Birmingham, Alabama pastry chef Dolester Miles, I’ve been hooked ever since. The secret to success–flavor and texture–is to bake the sweet potatoes until soft and oozing slightly and when cool slip of the skins . The flesh is put into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until very smooth. In Dolester’s recipe she says to beat until there are no more strings. I didn’t have that issue and the puree comes out perfectly with regular beating.
It has a captivating flavor profile fortified with ground ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. A touch of grated orange peel makes all the difference too. The texture is further enhanced by the addition of eggs, half and half (many recipes use plain or evaporated milk). Next time I’ll try using heavy cream for even greater texture.
Dolester uses a cornmeal and flour butter crust. The crust is sturdy but still flaky. You could make a standard short crust pastry, which is easier to roll out than the cornmeal crust. Serve the pie at room temperature but after the first servings, refrigerate the pie. It gets better and better on the second and third days. You can top the pie with whipped cream (Miles adds bourbon to hers) but also says that just is all you need do because it’s so rich and satisfying on its own without embellishment.
Ingredients
- Crust
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal medium grind
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water or more if needed
- Filling
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 stick butter softened
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Crust. Combine flour, sugar, salt and cornmeal in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles large peas. Mix yolk and water until combined and add to processor with motor running and then pulse once or twice until the dough holds together. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. For best results to prevent shrinkage while prebaking freeze the pie dough for 30 minutes or longer.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and let soften for about 10 minutes. Dust with flour and roll out to a 12-inch circle about to 1/4inch thick, then press into a 9-inch pie pan, trimming excess and crimping edges. For best results to prevent shrinkage while prebaking freeze the pie dough for 30 minutes or longer. Bake for 20 minutes covered with parchment paper and filled with dried beans or pie weights. Remove parchment and continue baking for 10 minutes or until pastry becomes lightly browned. Allow to cool before adding filling.
- Filling Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake sweet potatoes for about 1 hour or until fork tender. Allow to cool.
- Peel.
- Place peeled sweet potatoes in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment.
- Beat on medium speed until potatoes are pureed. Remove paddle attachment, wipe clean and return to mixer. (You will need 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes for the filling.)
- Lower temperature to 350 degrees.
- Add remaining ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and mix until combined. The filling can be made as long as 2 days in advance if covered and refrigerated.
- Pour filling into pre-baked cooled crust and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the filling is slightly puffed and set in the middle. Start checking the pie about 10 minutes before the time is up, because every oven is different. Cool completely on a rack.
- Top with the bourbon chantilly cream
