Episode 71
October 9, 2011
Sweet Potato Pie
Fall is definitely in full swing with the days getting noticeably shorter and the temperatures fluctuating from the 40s back up into the 80s. Ah Virginia, your weather makes picking out clothes a chore! But as the days wear on and it gets closer and closer to every American foodie’s favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, their individual wills to resist making holiday pies wane. Well mine did anyway. And that’s where this episode on this popular Autumn dessert comes in.
Despite this episode coming after the Pumpkin cake and caramel buttercream episode, I had long planned on doing this weeks and weeks ago. Many of my friends will probably remember all of my crazy rants about how I couldn’t find pumpkin puree immediately on the first of September. (Emphasis on crazy.) After about a week of looking around and calling several grocery stores I gave up and decided to plan out a sweet potato episode. (An interesting side note: I’m a little surprised how difficult it was to ask grocery store employees if they have pumpkin puree. If you’re looking for a baking product you better make sure you know the exact name on the packaging – or call a fellow baker in the baking department. Often times they’ll be able to communicate to their fellow employees in the dry grocery area what you’re looking for.) Of course, after all the crazy, my friend Josie over at All in the Name of Noms found two cans of pumpkin puree over at Wal-mart. To add to my embarrassment, I found an extra can of pumpkin puree stashed in my pantry that I didn’t end up using last year. I swear I checked for it.
If you're using raw sweet potatoes rinse/wash and peel them. Cut them up into chunks and then boil them until they are fork tender.
Anyway getting back to the actual ingredient used in this episode, sweet potato is definitely one of my favorite starchy root vegetables. Some of my favorite forms include battered sweet potato fries, candied yams with marshmallows (Thanksgiving side dish), and of course sweet potato pie. For those of you not familiar with sweet potato pie, it tastes very similar to pumpkin pie except it has a starchier flavor and texture. It’s not as smooth and creamy as pumpkin pie but at the same time has a more filling feel to it.
In the episode I use raw fresh sweet potatoes but as a short cut you can easily use canned sweet potatoes as long as they’re drained. Another customization you can do for your pie is to use a par-baked or pre-baked pie crust. (For a great episode on par-baking pie crusts, check out the lemon meringue pie episode). When I got this recipe from my Grandma it called for a pre-baked crust. Considering the time it takes for this pie to cook I was surprised that it would use a par-baked crust. Though her recipe insists the edge of the pie can be protected from burning by wrapping it in aluminum foil I had my doubts. I did notice after I baked my pie that the bottom crust was very tender and slightly under baked, but the edge of the pie crust was perfect.
The sweet potato pie needs to be stored refrigerated but I highly suggest warming up before serving. This can be done in the microwave or the oven – the latter will give you a crispier pie crust. You can also serve the pie with creme anglais, caramel sauce, whipped cream, buttercream, and ice cream.
Here’s the recipe for sweet potato pie and the pie dough recipe below are the videos (including the pie dough episode for easy access)! Enjoy and thank you for watching!
Pie Dough Episode:
