Sweet Potato Pie
A creamy custard of roasted sweet potato, sweetened and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, set in a pastry crust. Denser and more aromatic than pumpkin pie, it is comfort dessert par excellence.
A creamy custard of roasted sweet potato, sweetened and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, set in a pastry crust. Denser and more aromatic than pumpkin pie, it is comfort dessert par excellence.
For special days, I'd make my sweet potato pie, and the house would smell of cinnamon all the way down the street. I'd first bake my potatoes in the oven, never boiled — water steals their flavor, and it's the flavor we want. I'd mash them smooth with an egg, a little milk, sugar, and my spices, and taste the filling with the tip of my finger before baking it, just as my grandmother showed me. When you take it out, let it rest and set: a good pie can't be rushed, it must be waited for.
- •Sweet potatoes — three large (custard base)
- •Sugar — one cup (sweetness)
- •Eggs — two (binder)
- •Milk (or evaporated milk) — one glass (creaminess)
- •Butter — a knob (richness)
- •Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla — to taste (flavor)
- •Pie crust — one bottom (support)
Sweet Potato Pie
A creamy custard of roasted sweet potato, sweetened and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, set in a pastry crust. Denser and more aromatic than pumpkin pie, it is comfort dessert par excellence.
Why this dish? Sweet potato pie is THE holiday pie of African American Southern celebrations — Thanksgiving, Christmas, weddings. More economical than the white pumpkin pie, it is emblematic of the black community of Alabama from which Rosa Parks came.
For special days, I'd make my sweet potato pie, and the house would smell of cinnamon all the way down the street. I'd first bake my potatoes in the oven, never boiled — water steals their flavor, and it's the flavor we want. I'd mash them smooth with an egg, a little milk, sugar, and my spices, and taste the filling with the tip of my finger before baking it, just as my grandmother showed me. When you take it out, let it rest and set: a good pie can't be rushed, it must be waited for.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sweet potatoes — three large (custard base)
- Sugar — one cup (sweetness)
- Eggs — two (binder)
- Milk (or evaporated milk) — one glass (creaminess)
- Butter — a knob (richness)
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla — to taste (flavor)
- Pie crust — one bottom (support)
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes — 600 g (cooked flesh: ~450 g) (base)
- Brown sugar — 150 g (sweetness)
- Eggs — 2 (binder)
- Evaporated milk (or cream) — 150 ml (creaminess)
- Melted butter — 40 g (richness)
- Cinnamon — 1 tsp (signature spice)
- Nutmeg, grated — 1/2 tsp (spice)
- Vanilla extract — 1 tsp (flavor)
- Salt — 1 pinch (balance)
- Pie crust — 1 bottom (~250 g) (support)
Method
- Roast the sweet potatoes whole in the oven (200 °C, 45-60 min) until very soft. Peel while hot.
- Mash the flesh until smooth, add melted butter, sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla, and spices. Whisk into a homogeneous cream.
- Line a pie dish with the crust and pour in the filling.
- Bake at 180 °C for 45-55 minutes: the center should be just set (it will still jiggle slightly).
- Cool completely so the custard firms up before slicing.
How it was made : Sweet potato, grown throughout the South, replaced the West African yam in the culinary memory of black families. The pie was made with canned evaporated milk, which kept without refrigeration, common in modest early 20th-century households.
The contemporary twist : A quenelle of unsweetened whipped cream and a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg, served warm: the hot-cold contrast of Southern diners.
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
Rosa Parks · Charactorium