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Sky-High Sweet Potato Pie

Source of Recipe

From "Sweetie Pie's Cookbook" by Robbie Montgomery


Recipe Introduction

"During all my years of eating sweet potato pie�and believe me, I've tried plenty�I never could understand why they were always so heavy. One day I decided to experiment and see what would happen if I added more eggs to puff it up and some baking powder for extra rise. What I got was a pie that ballooned up in the oven and tasted nice and light when it settled down. My fail-proof formula is two eggs to one sweet potato and one egg 'for the pie.' I like a lot of flavor in my desserts, so my sweet potato pie has more cinnamon, nutmeg, and extracts than you might be used to, but trust me, when you taste this pie you will forget every other one you've ever had. Add some sweetened whipped cream to the top and you'll want to eat the whole pie in a single sitting."

List of Ingredients

◦ � recipe Basic Piecrust or one store-bought piecrust
◦ 1 medium sweet potato
◦ � teaspoon salt
◦ � cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
◦ � cup sugar
◦ � teaspoon nutmeg
◦ � teaspoon ground cinnamon
◦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
◦ � teaspoon lemon extract
◦ � teaspoon almond extract
◦ ⅓ cup evaporated milk
◦ 3 large eggs
◦ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
◦ � tablespoon baking powder


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350� F. Roll out a piecrust. Do this by flouring a work surface well and pressing the dough into a disk. Roll evenly in all directions, using a rolling pin, until you have a round crust that is 10 inches in diameter. This should be enough to fill the pie plate with a little overhang that you can tuck in or trim away after you fill the crust.

Line a 9-inch pie plate with a piecrust and crimp the edges. Prick the bottom of the crust in a few places with a fork, then bake the shell for 15 minutes, or until it is lightly golden. Remove from the oven to aa wire rack and cool completely. Turn off the oven.

Place the sweet potato in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover it and add � teaspoon of the salt. Place over medium heat, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the sweet potato is fork-tender, about 1 � hours. Drain and cool enough so it can be easily handled. Peel and mash up the sweet potato. Measure out 1 cup (eat any extra).

Put the sweet potato in a large bowl and add the melted butter along with the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla, lemon, and almond extracts. Stir in the evaporated milk. Make sure the mixture is cooled completely, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after you add each. Stir in the flour, the remaining � teaspoon salt, and the baking powder and beat well. Pour the filling into the prebaked piecrust and refrigerate for 1 hour�this will allow the pie to puff higher when you bake it.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350� F.
Bake the pie for 40 to 45 minutes, until the pie is firm when jiggled and lightly browned on top.

Makes one 9-inch pie




❧ Basic Piecrust:

Nowadays it's easy to buy a frozen pie shell, but when I was young, if you wanted pie, you made the crust yourself. Still, a basic piecrust is something that every cook should know how to make. It's easy to do and easy to make extra and freeze it for when you want it. Piecrust made with butter tastes best, but one made with shortening is the most economical. If you use a shortening crust�like most of those for the supermarket�brush it with a little melted butter before you bake it off so it still has that buttery taste.

◦ 2 � cups all-purpose flour
◦ 1 teaspoon salt
◦ 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or shortening, cut into small cubes
◦ � cup ice water, or more as needed

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the butter and, using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly with pieces the size of peas. You can also do this in a food processor by mixing the flour, salt, and butter together and pulsing until you have that crumbly mixture with pea-size pieces.

Gradually add the ice water, mixing gently until you can form the dough into a ball. The ball should stick together but still be crumbly. Do not knead! Cut the ball in half and wrap up each half in plastic. Now you have dough for two piecrusts.

Chill the crusts for an hour and then roll them out to fit your pie plate. Do this by flouring a work surface well and pressing the dough into a disk. Roll evenly in all directions, using a rolling pin, until you have a round crust that is 10 inches in diameter. This should be enough to fill the pie plate with a little overhang that you can tuck in or trim away after you fill the crust. You can also wrap and freeze the flattened balls of piecrust, or you can roll them out, then wrap and freeze them.

Makes two 9-inch piecrusts