Sweet Potato Pie

It was fitting that for the holidays I made a traditional pie based on a family recipe (not my family's recipe...I can't take credit for that.  But I can say - thank you, Jean, for giving me your variation on your mom's recipe).  After all, it is the time of year to see the people who knew you when you were a little brat angel, reminisce about old times, and resurrect traditions, especially traditional foods.  This year during the holidays, I was lucky to see many family members whom I haven't seen in too many years...and to promote the blog to them.  Welcome, family, and thanks for increasing my readership to ten. 

  

For two pies, you need the tried and true pie crust, 4 large sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, half and half, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and brandy (E&J Brandy is recommended by Jean). 

I cooked too many sweet potatoes.  I cooked six and made 3 pies, so I think it's about 2 sweet potatoes per pie. 

First, place sweet potatoes in boiling water for about twenty minutes or until they are cooked (a knife should insert easily into the center).  Peel the potatoes, and add 2 cups of cooked sweet potatoes to a food processor.

Then add 4 ounces (1 stick) of butter, 3/4 cup of white sugar, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and blend until smooth.

Then add 1 cup of half and half as you continue to blend.

Next, beat together 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon brandy.  Add this mixture to the food processor and blend until smooth.

Next, roll out the pie dough and line the bottom of a dish with it.  This first time I made this, I blind baked the crust, and the second time I made this I did not.  Turns out blind baking is unnecessary (thank goodness because it is a bit of a hassle).

Next, pour the filling into the crust.

Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the pie.  Let cool and then refrigerate overnight. 

If you're so inclined, the next day, make whipped cream by whipping 2 cups of heavy cream in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer on medium-high speed, then adding 4 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Pipe it onto the top of the pie like so:

Serve chilled.

Sweet Potato Pie (for 2 pies)

2 cups cooked sweet potato
4 ounces (1 stick) of butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brandy
tried and true pie crust

Place 4 sweet potatoes in boiling water and cook about 20 minutes until soft.  Set aside until cool enough to handle.  Peel the potatoes and put 2 cups of cooked sweet potato in a food processor.  Add butter, sugar and cinnamon.  Blend and add half and half as you blend.  In a bowl, beat eggs with vanilla and brandy, then add to food processor and blend until smooth.  Roll out pie dough and line dishes.  Fill, cover the edges with aluminum foil and bake at 350 until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (about 45 minutes to an hour).

Sweet Potato Pie (for 1 pie)

1 cup cooked sweet potato

2 ounces (1/2 stick of butter)

1/4 cup white sugar*

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 tablespoon brandy

tried and true pie crust

Cook as directed above.  This recipe is a bit difficult to cut in half, but I did, using 2 eggs, and it turned out lovely. 

*You have a lot of room to increase or decrease the amount of sugar in this pie.  The original recipe called for equal parts sugar and sweet potato.  I reduced the amount of sugar.  When I made a single pie (rather than 2 at once), I only put 1/4 cup each of white and brown sugar, and it turned out very tasty.  Because sweet potatoes are (obviously) naturally sweet, you can reduce the amount of sugar significantly.  It really depends on how sweet you like your pie. 

Whipped Cream (for 1 pie)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix cream on medium to high speed, add sugar and vanilla as it mixes.  Mix until thick. 

Enjoy! 

And the Winner Is...

Meat pie!  Several of you have been harassing me to make a meat pie, and it was ten degrees this morning when I walked my dogs (perfect meat pie weather), so I plan to make a dark meat chicken pot pie.  Sorry to those of you who suggested duck and lamb.  Having never made a meat pie, I want to start with something basic. 

 

Runners up: Quiche (Kelsey, I have big plans for a Hatch green chile quiche) and chocolate pie (Kristin E's suggestion on Facebook).  Both will appear on the blog at some point. 

Happy National Pie Day!

Apparently National Pie Day is a thing - a thing that I simply must note (and celebrate) on this pie-themed blog.  So in honor of National Pie Day, post ideas for a pie you'd like me to make. I will pick the idea I like the most, make it, and write about it.  If you think your idea is the best, please explain why (not that it means my decision won't be entirely arbitrary...this is my blog after all).

 

 

Pear Pie

A few weeks ago, my mom had a dinner party (a "dinner party" for my mom means having one person outside of our immediate family over), and she requested that I bring a pie.  She specifically requested an apple pie, but I wanted to make something different for the blog (I haven't posted an apple pie yet because I have an ambitious and creative idea for that post that will probably never come to fruition, but I digress).  To please us both, I decided to make a pear pie.  I've read that it is similar to apple, and I have always wanted to make it.  I varied my apple pie recipe slightly, reducing the amount of the ingredients so that the pear flavor would sing.  I read a lot of comments on various food blogs that pear pie is indistinguishable from apple, but I think that is due to the fact that people were using too much cinnamon; consequently, I only put 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon in this pie.  It turned out delicious - not too much like apple and with a bright pear flavor.  Mmmmmm.

As usual, I made my tried and true pie crust.  Then I gathered 8 unripe D'Anjou pears (most recipes call for Bosc or D'Anjou*), sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, butter, a lemon and an egg. The pears don't need to be ripe; in fact, unripe pears are fine. The harder the pears are, the longer it needs to bake. Completely ripe pears may become mushy when they bake, so I recommend using harder pears.

I peeled the pears like apples and sliced them into one-inch slices.

Then mixed the pears with 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of flour and let it sit for 15 minutes, until it looked like this:

While the filling was resting, I rolled out the dough. 

And decided to do a single crust for the top rather than a lattice because I was feeling lazy. And before I covered the pie with the crust, I dotted it with 1 1/2 tablespoons of salted butter.

I had an idea to use this round cookie cutter to make a polka dot themed pie with circles around the edge and one in the center. As usual, it didn't turn out as pretty as I imagined.

And brushed it with egg whites.

Which helped smooth out the flaky crust.

Then I covered the edges and baked it at 425 for 30 minutes, then reduced the heat and baked it at 350 for an hour.  It came out with a nice golden brown crust:

Surprisingly, the pears turned pink when they baked; they looked very pretty.

Pear Pie

8 D'Anjou or Bosc Pear, unripe
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 tablespoons salted butter
Tried and true pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel pears and slice them into 1-inch thick slices. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except the butter. Let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the dough and line a pie dish with it. Pour in the filling and dot with the butter. Cover with a pricked or lattice crust, brush the top with egg whites, and cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil. Bake at 425 for 30-45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, checking periodically until the pears are soft but not mushy (a fork should be easily inserted, but the pears slices should maintain their shape. Let stand at least 2 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

* I made several pear pies this winter and got to compare D'Anjou to Bosc.  Both were good, but the Bosc pears were not quite as flavorful when baked.  Not to mention D'Anjou pears are less exepnsive and easier to find, so I vote for D'Anjou.

Enjoy!

How-to Tuesday: How to Make Meringue

This post is for you, Rebekah.  Because you're so bossy, you made me do it. 

Ok, ok.  Actually, you asked me what "soft meringue" means, which inspired me to write this post.  Then you reminded me to post it recently because I'm admittedly a slacker at blogging.  But I can't give you credit for everything - it was my clever idea to take a "Three Bears" approach to this post.  The idea here is to show you what meringue looks like in three states of being - too soft, just right (soft peaks), and too hard (stiff peaks, which are actually appropriate for many recipes, thereby ruining my children's book analogy, but I'm sticking with it).

You need eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar (superfine baker's sugar works the best, but regular granulated sugar is ok too; we're not all bakers!). 

First, separate 3 eggs. Typically, with cream pies, the yolks go in the filling and the whites can be set aside for the meringue.

Turn your mixer on high (7 or 8 on the amazing KitchenAid) and slowly add 1/2 a cup of sugar.

Then add 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla as it mixes.  I kept a timer going as I mixed this.  There is no set amount of time before it sets up properly; just keep an eye on it.  After about 3 minutes, it looked like Elmer's glue.  Obviously, it was too soft.

Too soft: 

So I kept mixing it for an additional 3 minutes, until it looked like the dollop seen below. That is a soft peak. It is akin to marshmellow fluff, perhaps slightly softer.  It will form a peak when you press a knife against it or touch it with your finger, but the peak will collapse slightly when you let go.

Then I turned the mixer on high for an additional three minutes until it formed stiff peaks.  This is more akin to whipped cream in terms of how it holds its shape.  A stiff peak will not collapse when you touch it with a knife.

Here they are side by side:

Meringue:

3 egg whites

3/4 cup of superfine baker's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Separate eggs and place egg whites in a stand mixer or bowl if using a hand mixer.  Beat on medium-high to high speed (I worked my way up from 6 to 8 on the KitchenAid mixer) until it starts to thicken.  Keep watching and checking periodically once it appears the meringue is thick and can be scooped without falling flat.  This can take anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes depending on the speed of your mixer.  There is no correct amount of time.  Press the flat side of a knife against the meringue and lift it away to form a peak.  If a peak forms but collapses slightly, you have made soft peaks; if a peak forms and holds its shape completely, you have made stiff peaks. 

Butter Crust

I have been biased against butter crust because it is difficult to work with, so I usually stick with shortening.  However, I got a wonderful gift - a marble rolling pin, which can be chilled prior to use, thereby making the dough easier to roll out. So I decided to give butter crust another shot because I think a more flavorful crust is preferable for bite size pies.  In taste tests like this one, butter crust wins the flavor contest.  Although, I think the methodology in this test is flawed because the crust was tasted alone, and crusts really should be taste tested with filling because pie is a marriage of flavors and textures, so no individual component should be judged alone.  Lawyerly enough for you? 

This is my tried-and-true pie crust but with 1 cup of butter rather than shortening.  In addition to the butter, you need 2 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 egg and a touch of water.

Mix salt and baking powder into flour with a fork.

And add 2 cold sticks of unsalted butter.

Then cut the butter in with a pastry blender.  If you do not have a pastry blender, you can cut the butter into half-inch cubes and pulse the mixture in a food processor.  I find it is easiest to press the pastry blender against the back of the bowl in order to break up the butter.

It should form an uneven mixture that resembles a coarse meal.

Then break one egg into a measuring cup and add cold water until it reaches 3/4 of a cup (this took a bit more water than my shortening crust). Whisk and add to the flour mixture.

And mix gently with your hands until it forms a ball.  It doesn't have to look perfect; you can use the plastic wrap to help form it into a ball.

A trick I learned from Martha Stewart Living (god, I hate myself for saying that) is to flatten the dough slightly after you wrap it up because that will allow it to chill faster.  Clever, Martha, clever.

After it chills for at least 3 hours, generously flour your surface.  Very generously.

And roll out the dough.  This rolling pin is amazing because it's heavy, so it's very effective.  The key with butter crust is not to handle it too much with your hands and work quickly, so it will stay cold.  It is more pliable and seems to break less easily than shortening crust.  (I might be a butter crust convert.)

Butter Crust

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 egg

about 1/4 cup of cold water

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder with a fork.  Break egg into a measuring cup.  Add water until it reaches 3/4 cup.  Whisk slightly, and pour over flour mixture.  Blend gently with your hands until it forms a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  If you want it to chill more quickly, flatten slightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  

Favorite Pumpkin Pie

I am getting a little bit pumpkined out. But this post is for you, Mary E. - it's my family's favorite pumpkin pie. It's actually called "Favorite Pumpkin Pie" and is the first recipe in this cookbook my parents bought in the early 1980s:

Because this pie is perfect, we have never made it past the first recipe in this book. 

When I make pies that only have crust on the bottom, I often cheat by using these:

They are pretty good. Prebake the crust according to the instructions. Be sure to cover the edges of the crust when you prebake it because it tends to burn. 

Then cook a pumpkin like this, and put 2 cups of cooked pumpkin in a food processor.

Add 3/4 of a cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. Using pumpkin pie spice is not cheating, by the way. I've tried it both ways, and it tastes the same. But for your benefit, I'll put the breakdown of the spices below.

Blend.

Then add 1 cup of half and half as you continue to blend.

And add three eggs, slightly beaten. 

Blend until smooth.

And pour into your crust and cover the edges.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until a knife inserted off-center comes out clean.

Chill (best if chilled overnight). 


Favorite Pumpkin Pie

1 deep dish 9-inch pie shell, prepared according to instructions

2 cups cooked pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves. I increased the amount of spices by 1/4 teaspoon to make it an even 3 teaspoons.)

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half
3 eggs, slightly beaten

Combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt in a food processor and blend. Blend in half and half and eggs. Pour into pie shell. Bake in a 400 degree oven until knife inserted off-center comes out clean. Bake about 40 to 45 minutes. (Warning: this pie can take more than 45 minutes, so check it periodically after 40 minutes. It may take up to and hour and a half.)

Serve with canned whipped cream or make the spiced whipped cream seen here.