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Southern Sweet Potato Pie

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  • Author: Cindy Gibbs
  • Prep Time: 20 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 Slices 1x
  • Category: Pies, Thanksgiving, Holidays,
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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For the Pie

  • 1 deep dish 9-inch pie shell, homemade or store bought, see notes below for tips*
  • 1 1/4 cups cooked sweet potatoes, about 2 medium, see cooking instructions below.
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/2 cup half & half
  • 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Nutmeg Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Instructions

  1. Prepare the sweet potatoes.  There are two options here.  You can cook the potatoes, skins on, in a pan of water for about 45 minutes until they are fork tender and drain, or bake them in a 400-degree oven, skins on for about 1 hour until fork tender.  Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins and add them to a blender.  Puree’ until potatoes are smooth and pour into a mixing bowl.  You can mash them with a potato masher but make sure they are smooth with no lumps.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the sweet potatoes and mix on medium speed until all ingredients are well combined.  Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell (see notes below) and crimp or flute edges of pie shell.  Place foil around the edges of the pie shell to prevent over browning.

  1. Place pie on the center rack of an oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes until pie filling is no longer jiggly in the center.  Transfer pie to a wire rack and allow pie to cool completely and refrigerate.
  2. Serve pie with dollops of homemade Nutmeg Whipped Cream.

For the Nutmeg Whipped Cream

  1. Add whipping cream to the bowl of a stand mixer, or use a hand mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, beat the whipping cream on medium speed until it starts to slightly thicken, and you can see that it’s no longer going to splatter out of the bowl if you increase the speed.  This takes about 1 minute.
  2. Add the powdered sugar, nutmeg, and vanilla and beat on high speed until medium-soft peaks form, about 1 minute if using a stand mixer.  It may take a little longer if using a hand mixer.  If you desire stiff peaks, beat a little longer until the peaks are stiff.  I prefer a softer peak when serving on desserts.

Notes

  • Cook time includes cooking sweet potatoes and par-baking pie crust.
  • It’s important to partially par-bake or pre-bake the pie shell in some pies, such as pumpkin and custard, or the bottom crust will not get baked through when the filling gets done.
  • If using a store bought pie shell, allow pie shell to thaw for 15 minutes.  Pierce the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork.  Line the shell with a piece of foil or a crumpled up piece parchment paper and fill with pie weights or beans.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove the weights and foil or paper and bake for 10 additional minutes.  Remove from oven and fill with the pie filling.  Place strips of foil around the edges of the pie crust and bake as directed in the recipe above.
  • If using a homemade pie crust, roll out the pie dough and fit into a deep dish 9-inch pie dish.  Using a fork, prick the bottom and insides of the pie shell.  Line the shell with a piece of crumpled parchment paper or use foil and fill with beans or pie weights.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove pie weights and paper or foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, and proceed with recipe directions above.  Click here for my favorite all-shortening pie crust recipe. You have a couple of options when preparing the sweet potatoes. You can place them on a cookies sheet in the oven and bake them at 400 degrees for about 1 hour until they are soft.  Make sure you pierce them with a fork before baking them.  Once they’ve cooled enough to handle, peel them and puree’ or mash with a potato masher, making sure they are smooth with no lumps remaining, or…
  • You can cook them in water, unpeeled until they are fork tender, about 45 minutes.  Once they are cool enough to handle, puree’ or mash as directed in step #1.