National Pie Day!

Again, cause for celebration!  Last year was Chocolate Silk Pie.  This year is Sweet Potato Pie.  Yes, I know, I'm definitely marking myself as a little Southern girl here, but this year, we had extra-special Sweet Potato Pie.  So, I felt the recipe was worthy to share :)

The original recipe I used was from Allrecipes.com, one of about 2 dozen variations they have there.  This one was one of the most highly ranked, so I figured it was a good starting point!

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) sweet potato (approximately 2 cups mashed sweet potato)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.  (It is also possible to boil the sweet potatoes already peeled - your preference)
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl.  If the sweet potatoes are well cooked, they will mash easily. 
3. Add butter, and mix well with hand mixer. 
4. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla.
5. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. 
6. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools - don't be concerned if it seems like it's falling :) 

Nutrition Amount Per Serving

• Calories: 389
• Total Fat: 20.6g
• Cholesterol: 85mg 

My Notes & Variations

• I used 1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice instead of the spices listed above.  Other spices I've seen included in sweet potato pie recipes are allspice (1 tsp) and orange zest (1 tsp).  Sweet potato pie is very similar to pumpkin pie, and spices can be adjusted to taste.  If you know what you like in pumpkin pie, then you can use similar spices here.
• I used evaporated milk instead of milk.  It's an equal substitution, just makes the finished pie a little smoother.
• The reason I wanted to post this particular recipe this year is that we received purple sweet potatoes for Christmas this year.  My mother-in-law found these a few years ago, and has succeeded in raising some in her own garden from sprouts from the purchased purple ones.  They are naturally purple, and don't lose their color when cooked (see below on left?).  Too much fun!  So, for New Year's, along with the traditional Southern ham-and-black-eyed-peas dinner, we had PURPLE sweet potato pie!  :D  I made 2 purple pies, and they made me so happy!  Truly the little things in life :)
• If you are lucky enough to get your hands on purple potatoes yourself, they do take a little more liquid when cooking.  You just add milk until it's the right consistency for the pie.  For reference, I made a double batch (i.e. 2 purple pies) and instead of doubling the evaporated milk (using 1 cup of milk) I used the whole 12 oz. can.  I did have to cook it a little longer as well, but really that's not unusual with our oven.  Just go by the toothpick test, and if you have to cook it longer because of the extra liquid used, well, don't be surprised.