Saturday, February 5, 2011

Ron’s Exceptional Sweet Potato Pie

My husband Ron taught me how to make a sweet potato pie. I had never tasted one before I met him. You can’t find anything that qualifies more as Soul Food than a sweet potato pie. And Ron’s is the best. Note that what I call “sweet potato” is actually, technically a garnet yam. This pie can be made with any of the yam family roots, but my very favorite is the garnet yam.

Ingredients

4 medium-sized sweet potatoes or garnet yams (to make approximately 4 c. when cooked and mashed)
3 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. milk
1 egg (beaten)
1/3 c. honey
2 tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. allspice
Pinch of mace
1 pie shell (either make from scratch or purchase ready-made)

Directions

Peel and slice the sweet potato and boil the slices until they are soft. Boiling time varies depending on how thin you slice the sweet potato. It usually takes about 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350˚.

When the sweet potato is soft, drain out the water and melt in the butter. Mash the sweet potato. Beat the egg and add that as well as the other wet ingredients. Add in the spices. Blend well until the mixture is smooth and has no lumps. Use an electric mixer if necessary. The pie filling should have an even consistency.

Put the filling into the pie shell. If you buy a ready-made pie shell, then you will likely have enough filling for two since they are small. Bake at 350˚ for 50 minutes or until the filling is set and crust browns.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!