How to Make Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet potato pie is popular in the southern United States. It's not as sweet as pumpkin pie, but it looks awfully similar. Serves 8.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• dried beans
• 3 slightly beaten eggs
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• piecrust dough
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes
• whipped cream
• Aluminum Foil
• Aluminum Foil
• Groceries
• Dinner Forks
• Large Mixing Bowls
• Pie Pans
• Rolling Pins
• Wire Racks

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Scrub sweet potatoes with a brush, pat dry, and prick with a fork in several places.

3. Bake potatoes for 40 to 50 minutes or until they're very tender. Cool until you can handle them with your hands.

4. While potatoes bake, roll out the pastry dough and line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry. Crimp edges as desired. (See "How to Make Piecrust Dough.")

5. Line the pastry with a piece of aluminum foil that has been folded in half. Make sure it covers all the dough. Put a handful of dried beans or pie weights over the foil.

6. Bake the pastry in the 450-degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake 4 more minutes.

7. Take baked and cooled potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise.

8. Scoop the pulp of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl and mash them to a pulp.

9. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Add eggs. Beat lightly with a fork until just combined.

10. Gradually stir in buttermilk. Mix well.

11. Put the pastry shell on the oven rack and carefully pour filling into shell.

12. Cover the edge of the pie with foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. and bake 25 minutes.

13. Remove foil and bake 25 more minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

14. Cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack.

15. Chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

16. Serve with whipped cream.

Tips & Warnings

• To transfer a rolled-out piecrust to the dish, wrap it around the rolling pin, then unroll the crust into the dish. Don't stretch the crust into the pan, or the crust will shrink when you bake it.
• The dried beans are used so that the piecrust doesn't bubble.
• What American supermarkets call "yams" are actually a variety of sweet potato. You can use either the light "sweet potato" or the darker "yam" for the pie.

Who Can Help:

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on 12/28/2005 Instead of baking or steaming my sweet potatoes, I prick a few holes in them with a fork and place them in my microwave for about 15 minutes or until they are fork tender. Let them cool slightly, split them in half and scoop out the cooked potato.

on 11/22/2005 When I take my yams or sweet potato pie out of the oven, I put marshmallows on top while it's hot so it will be sweet.