Sweet Potato Pie
A creamy, spiced pie made from mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with molasses, flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon. More rustic and sweeter than pumpkin pie, it is the dessert of sharing.
A creamy, spiced pie made from mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with molasses, flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon. More rustic and sweeter than pumpkin pie, it is the dessert of sharing.
Don't talk to me about pumpkin pie — in our house, sweet potato rules! We baked it under the ashes until it became syrupy, then mashed it with molasses, a little grated nutmeg, and the whole house smelled. My aunt would take it out of the oven on Sunday, and it was a celebration in itself. A slice of that pie was a piece of the South that we carried all the way to Harlem, sweet and warm, reminding you where you came from.
- •Sweet potatoes — a few (base)
- •Molasses and sugar — to taste (sweetener)
- •Eggs — a few (binder)
- •Butter — a good knob (richness)
- •Nutmeg, cinnamon — a grating (spices)
- •Milk — a little (creaminess)
- •Pie crust (shortcrust) — one base (support)
Sweet Potato Pie
A creamy, spiced pie made from mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with molasses, flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon. More rustic and sweeter than pumpkin pie, it is the dessert of sharing.
Why this dish? Sweet potato pie is THE iconic dessert of the African American table, served on special occasions and holidays. The sweet potato, cultivated and cooked by enslaved Africans in the South, carried this dessert from generation to generation. For Douglas, who studied and later taught at Fisk University in Nashville, deep in the South, this pie was the very taste of Sunday and family reunions.
Don't talk to me about pumpkin pie — in our house, sweet potato rules! We baked it under the ashes until it became syrupy, then mashed it with molasses, a little grated nutmeg, and the whole house smelled. My aunt would take it out of the oven on Sunday, and it was a celebration in itself. A slice of that pie was a piece of the South that we carried all the way to Harlem, sweet and warm, reminding you where you came from.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sweet potatoes — a few (base)
- Molasses and sugar — to taste (sweetener)
- Eggs — a few (binder)
- Butter — a good knob (richness)
- Nutmeg, cinnamon — a grating (spices)
- Milk — a little (creaminess)
- Pie crust (shortcrust) — one base (support)
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes — 600 g (yields ~400 g puree) (base)
- Molasses (or cane syrup) — 2 tbsp (signature sweetener)
- Brown sugar — 100 g (sweetener)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Melted butter — 60 g (richness)
- Milk — 100 ml (creaminess)
- Grated nutmeg + cinnamon — 1/2 tsp each (spices)
- Pie crust (shortcrust) — 1 base (24 cm) (support)
Method
- Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven (45 min at 200°C) until tender, then peel and mash into a smooth puree.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a pie dish with the crust.
- Beat the puree with brown sugar, molasses, melted butter, eggs, milk, and spices.
- Pour the filling into the crust and smooth the top.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes: the pie should be set but still slightly jiggly in the center.
- Let cool completely before serving (it firms up as it cools).
How it was made : Before modern ovens, sweet potatoes were baked directly under the embers and ashes of the hearth, which caramelized them. They were sweetened with molasses, a cheap byproduct of sugar cane, much more accessible than refined sugar in Black Southern households.
The contemporary twist : Dust the crust with a fine stenciled pattern of cinnamon, a radiant motif reminiscent of the stylized sun in Douglas's compositions, and serve with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.
Sources : Adrian Miller, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine (2013) · Toni Tipton-Martin, The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks (2015)
Aaron Douglas · Charactorium