Sweet potatoes are a Thanksgiving classic. Mash ‘em with some sugar, pecans, and marshmallows and it’s unclear as to whether you have a side or dessert. Though sweet enough to earn a place among the pies, my turkey just isn’t complete if not accompanied by a huge dollop of sweet potato casserole.
I’ve had sweet potatoes mashed, hashed, and baked, but never before in a pie. Apparently in these parts sweet potato pie is a regular contender on Thanksgiving menus, but before two days ago, I had never tried such a thing.
The verdict: it tastes an awfully lot like pumpkin pie. Really, if I didn’t make it myself I wouldn’t have believed that it was made with sweet potatoes. That’s totally okay with me though as a good pumpkin pie makes me weak in the knees.
Sweet potato or pumpkin??
Before I go on telling you anymore about this pie, I have to tell you a little secret. A secret that I am not proud of, but nonetheless, a secret that must be told…
I used store bought crust. *Gasps*
I had every intention to make my own crust, I swear. I had my flour measured out, my butter good and chilled, and my food processor set and ready to go. Then, I stumbled across one little detail in the recipe that sent me digging through the freezer. Unlike other dough that I have made before, this dough required four hours of chilling, unlike the 20 minutes that I was accustomed to. Seeing as how it was already 5:30 on a Saturday night, I had somewhere to be in two hours, and needed the pie first thing in the morning, it looked like frozen piecrust was the only reasonable answer. I guess I could have always found another piecrust recipe to make, but I was really adamant on following the recipe at hand.
I sure do appreciate a good homemade crust, but I’ll tell you what, I can see why so many people are thankful for premade piecrust. It really makes things a piece of cake pie.
Close enough in taste to the familiar pumpkin pie, but just visually different enough, this pie is sure to be a hit at any Thanksgiving meal.
Just be sure not to overbrown your marshmallows like I did…
Although, we all know that near burnt marshmallows are the best anyway, right?
Toasted Marshmallow Sweet Potato Pie
Adapted from the Food Network
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 cup evaporated milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup mini marshmallows
Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate; fold the overhang under itself and crimp. Chill 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Line with foil, fill with pie weights, and bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and bake 10 more minutes. Cool on a rack.
Whisk the sweet potato, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and spices in a bowl; pour into the crust. Bake until the center is just barely set, about 1 hour. (Cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly.) Cool on a rack.
Top with 1 cup mini marshmallows (or large marshmallows cut in half if you happen to go to four grocery stores and they are all out of mini marshmallows!) and broil or torch until golden brown.
What’s on your Thanksgiving menu this year?
The Daily Doss 