I want to send out love to all the grandmothers, mothers and aunties who have put amazing sweet potato pies on their families’ dessert tables for Thanksgiving and throughout the holidays. In the African-American community our families expect sweet potato pie to be part of our feast on Thanksgiving and at all our holiday functions. My family is no exception.
Sweet potatoes are the beauties which make the most delectable mouthwatering pies. If you talk with anybody from an African-American family they will tell you that their “shero” in their family makes the best down home sweet potato pies. Believe me, this debate can go on for days! It’s the “shero’s” love which she or (he) placed in each and every one of those sweet potato pies that their family has come to enjoy each holiday that makes their pies the best.
Trust and believe most didn’t use a recipe to create those gorgeous pies. It’s all about the recipes in their heads and eyeballing the needed ingredients along with taste testing that goes into making the pies their families are so accustomed to eating. I know if you have 10 different pies made by 10 different pie makers they will all taste different depending on the spices that were used. Just know they all will be delicious!
I like to think I make a decent down home sweet potato pie. My family and friends seem to think so. Special ingredients such as allspice, nutmeg and cloves giving the filling that added punch. I love experimenting with some of the other ingredients as well. I use evaporated milk instead of other types of milk, it makes for a creamier pie. Using a combination of granulated and brown sugar you tend to get a darker pie because of the molasses (a thick dark syrup) found in brown sugar. Brown sugar can also affect the taste of the pie as well.
When I bite into a slice of this pie it takes me back to when I was a little girl when my mother and auntie’s made the sweet potato pies. Such delicious memories. Now I get to share with family and friends my take on sweet potato pies. Down home sweet potato pie never tasted so good.
Whether I use a deep dish pie crust made from scratch or one purchased from a store I use a fork to pierce holes throughout the crust (this helps to reduce puffiness in the crust). I bake the crust at 350 degrees for no more than 8 minutes. It prevents the crust from becoming soggy. I then put the sweet potato filling in the pie crust and continue baking for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Down Home Sweet Potato Pie
- 5 large sweet potatoes
- 1 stick melted butter
- 3 cups granulated sugar ( Substitute 1 cup brown sugar for 1 of the granulated sugar optional)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 tablespoons ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Bake pie shells for 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven.
- In a large pot boil whole sweet potatoes until tender. Approximately 55 minutes.
- Cool the potatoes and remove the skin. Cut the potatoes into manageable pieces.
- Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Use a mixer to remove lumps from potatoes.
- Gradually add other ingredients one at a time to the potato mixture continue mixing at the same time.
- Add sugar, butter, eggs, milk, cinnamon, allspice, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, salt, and vanilla extract
- Pour the pie filling into 2 pre-baked pie shells.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 50 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted into the center of the pies comes out clean.
- Serve hot or cold with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream
