Sweet Potato Pie

Its amazing what you can come up with when you mix a little flour, butter and sugar together. Depending on the quantity and the procedure as well as the other things you mix them with you can come up with the most delicate of pastries or the crustiest bread or the most mouth-watering cookie.

My recent pie-obsession has brought me early at the grocery store this morning looking for ingredients for the sweet potato pie that I was wanting to make. In a country where sweet potatoes are abundant, we generally do not use it as pie filling. 'Camote', our term for sweet potatoes are boiled, broiled, fried and coated with caramel but we do not use it for making pies. Yet today I feel courageous to try something Ive never done before and the result was amazing.

Mom even texted me that she loved the pie and insisted that I share the recipe so here goes:




Sweet Potato Pie
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (I used what the grocery store clerk called Taiwan camote. Boiled, peeled then mashed like we do when we make mashed potatoes)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla


Measure 2 cups and put in a medium sized pot with the packed brown sugar, all of the spices, salt, butter, milk. Cook on low flame for about 5 minutes, whipping with a wire whisk until butter and brown sugar are melted down and mixture is well blended, smooth and starts to bubble. Remove from fire and let cool in pot.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the three eggs then add the granulated sugar and vanilla and continue beating until creamy. Pour on to the cooled sweet potato mixture. Stir in the egg mixture. Blend thoroughly then pour to the a HOT, blind-baked pie crust (that means bake it without the filling).

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until edges and center are raised and puffed and the center only shakes slightly. Remove immediately from the oven and allow the pie to cool and set for about an hour. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is something I used to often read about since I was a child but have not tried until recently. You see in the Philippines we have coconut (buko) pies and tarts with fillings such as cashew, jackfruit (langka) or even cheese but we are not big pie eaters. Of course we have empanadas (fruit or meat-filled fried tartlets) but over-all, pies do not seem to be our pastry of choice. In fact, I had Coconut Cream Pie only once in Manila, back in the 90's at an acclaimed restaurant in Buendia Avenue in Makati. Just once. It is quite ironic because we are a coconut producing country.

My mom however, love pies. She made pineapple and apple pies since I was a little girl that were quite good and somehow set our standards high in the pie arena such that store-brought ones have zero probability of passing the mark. Thus started my love-affair with pies.

In a recent trip to the US, I brought home a few cans of pumpkin because I was unable to enjoy even a bite of my favorite while we were there. I told myself that I would make one in my kitchen. How hard could it be? It just calls for milk and eggs and a few spices.

The result did not disappoint. In fact, I was happy with my home-made flaky crust and the creamy pumpkin pie filling. It tasted Christmas-y. It tasted the way I remember it should. It satisfied my craving and its quite easy to make.

Oh-oh. I have a feeling I have started a new obsession *rushes to find other good pie recipes*

MrsA

BTW, I used Alton Brown's recipe for Pumpkin Pie Filling and Martha Stewart's recipe for the pie crust. Both are outstanding!