Sweet Potato Ginger Pie
November 25, 2013 at 11:39 am | Posted in pies & tarts, sweet things | 14 CommentsTags: baking, dessert, holiday, pie
I’m not making Thanksgiving dinner myself this year. You never know what you’re gonna get when you’re not in charge, so I had to make a pre-Thanksgiving pie for the two of us here at home.
I mixed things up from the typical pumpkin pie by making a sweet potato one. To tell you the truth, I think that pumpkins and sweet potatoes can make pretty interchangeable pie fillings in terms of taste, because they’re often identically spiced. This pie, though, mixes it up a bit in the spice department. It’s a little more ginger-heavy than most– a little more zippy– and leaves out the traditional cloves entirely. When I make a pumpkin pie I normally reach for a can-opener, but this filling uses a fresh-roasted sweet potato. If you have a big potato left over from last night’s dinner, you can use that, no problem. Using a fresh sweet potato for a custard pie gives a slightly different texture than canned pumpkin does. The sweet potato filling is not quite as velvety smooth as pumpkin filling– it’s a little more dense and substantial.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sweet Potato Ginger Pie– makes a 9-inch pie
adapted from the wonderfully reliable Melissa Clark
Steph’s Note: To speed things along, you can cook the sweet potato in advance or use a leftover one for this pie. Just bring it to room temperature before processing the filling.
single-crust recipe of your favorite flaky pastry dough, well-chilled
1 c cooked sweet potato
3/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c milk
3 eggs
2/3 c light brown sugar
2 tbsp brandy, bourbon or rum
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt
-To make the filling, cut a slit into one large sweet potato and wrap tightly in foil. Bake at 400°F until sweet potato is very soft, about an hour. Let cool.
-Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the piecrust to a 12-inch circle. Transfer the crust to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp as decoratively as you can manage.
-Prick the crust all over with a fork and freeze it for at least 15 minutes. Cover the pie with aluminum foil or parchment and fill with pie weights. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes (you can do this while the sweet potato is also in the oven). Remove the foil or parchment and weights and bake until golden, about 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool on a rack until needed.
-Scoop 1 cup of cooked, cooled sweet potato into food processor, discarding skin. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Add all remaining filling ingredients to food processor and puree until smooth. You can skip this, but if you want to smooth the filling out a bit more, strain it by pressing through a fine sieve.
-Spoon filling into pie crust and spread until flat and even. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the custard is mostly firm and set but jiggles slightly when moved, 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and serve with whipped cream.
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a whisk and a spoon 
Looks gorgeous. You are right. You never know what you are going to get when you eat Thanksgiving dinner prepared by someone else. Hoping you are pleasantly surprised! Happy Thanksgiving.
Comment by tinywhitecottage— November 25, 2013 #
Oh this looks and sounds fabulous…. ❤ Happy Thanksgiving!
Comment by Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs— November 25, 2013 #
beautiful. I love how you didn’t use canned filling.
Comment by That other cook...— November 25, 2013 #
Looks beautiful! How different does this taste from a traditional pumpkin pie?
Comment by Pacific Merchants— November 25, 2013 #
I had wondered about the taste difference between pumpkin and sweet potato pies… this looks so yummy!
Comment by HelloHomebody— November 25, 2013 #
This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Comment by crayonsandcroissants— November 25, 2013 #
Yum! I mean, never had a sweet potato pie before, but we adore all things sweet potato so this must be a winner!
Comment by saucygander— November 25, 2013 #
This pie looks awesome! Love the spices. 🙂
Comment by sara— November 25, 2013 #
Wow this looks so amazing! I will try this recipe for Thanksgiving! thx
Comment by Ashley Morgan— November 26, 2013 #
This sounds really interesting. Is it spicy ?
Comment by xxTruthBeToldxx— November 30, 2013 #
Not hot spicy, but spiced.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— December 1, 2013 #
This looks delicious!! 🙂 I am looking for a dessert recipe to make with sweet potatoes, this sounds perfect. You have a lovely blog by the way! 🙂
Comment by superfoodista— December 13, 2013 #
A lovely recipe…bookmarked!!!
Comment by Ayesha (Miss Spicy Hat n' Sugar Socks)— December 16, 2013 #
Wishing you a magical Christmas season and all the good things in 2014! 🙂
Comment by Geraldine— December 18, 2013 #