Monday, November 29, 2010

Thanksgiving & Sweet Potato Pie





















Even though there was only my grandmother and I celebrating Thanksgiving this year at my house, we were both really looking forward to it. Due in large part to the FOOD. But that seems to be a universal sentiment this time of year. And of course, I had so much to celebrate and be thankful for, but that's not limited to just one day. I'm grateful everyday. I hope you, too, have many reasons to feel thankful.

This year was different in that we ventured away from our usual store bought desserts and I made everything from scratch. Believe it or not, I have less than a year total baking experience. Before then, most of the things I cooked were pre-packaged, frozen and re-heated. What a difference a year can make! Most of the food you'd find in my kitchen these days are things I made myself.

I, myself don't eat any pie with egg in it, but when my grandmother requested a sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving, I was happy to oblige. If you've seen my previous posts' Here, and Here, you know I've fallen in love with pie making over the months.

I chose this one especially for its inclusion of maple syrup, which I thought sounded perfect for the Holiday.


Sweet Potato Pie
Recipes courtesy and adapted from Simply Recipes and MomsWhoThink





















Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon real maple syrup
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1 &1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


To Make Filling:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Poke holes in two sweet potatoes. Cover in aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and ten minutes or until soft. When ready, continue to next step.

3. In large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Turn speed to low and add in eggs 1 at a time.

4. Add in remaining ingredients: remove skin from sweet potatoes and measure out 1 and 1/2 cups filling, maple syrup, vanilla, cream, nutmeg and cinnamon, mix on low or stir until combined.

*See below for crust instructions.

Cover sides and top of pie crust completely with aluminum foil. Use fork to create holes in bottom of crust. Place pan with bottom crust in oven and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until bottom crust lightly browns on 375 degrees. Remove pan from oven. Carefully remove aluminum foil.

Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Pour sweet potato filling into pie crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until firm.




















To Make Crust:

In standard sized food processor, or large bowl, process, or mix with hand mixer, flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add in shortening and process or mix until mixture resembles coarse sand, approximately 10 seconds. Add pieces of butter over flour mixture and process in 1 second pulses, or mix, turning hand mixer on then off, until pieces of butter are no bigger than small peas. Add 6 tablespoons ice water to mixture and, using a rubber spatula or hand mixer on low, fold in, or mix until just combined. Pinch dough with fingertips to be sure it sticks together, If not, add an additional 2 tablespoons ice water. Do not process or mix more than 30 seconds.
Turn dough onto work surface and gather into ball. Divide dough in half and flatten each into a round disk-like shape. Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

After an hour, remove one round of dough from refrigerator. Measure out and lightly flour two equal pieces of wax paper. Place dough, in center, between two pieces of wax paper, begin to flatten round of dough with rolling pin. Give wax paper square a quarter turn after each roll. Roll dough two inches larger than inverted pie plate. (Place pie plate, upside down, over dough to make sure it's big enough.) Carefully remove only top layer of wax paper. Turn remaining wax paper holding dough, so that the dough is facing down, into pie pan. Make sure dough is even in pan. Carefully remove second piece of wax paper, which should be bottom side up. Brush off excess flour. Roll hanging dough under itself to crimp or cut off excess. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Reserve both pieces of wax paper and repeat process of rolling with second dough round.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out the shape you desire using to decorate top of crust. Place shapes on lined cookie sheet, remove excess dough, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
(I used maple leafs.)





















Once pie has cooled, baked shapes in preheated 400 degree oven for about ten minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow shapes to cool and assemble over top of pie.


13 comments:

  1. OMG Ree!!! I love this amazing pie, and I love your leaf shape, is nice and beauty! I want one!!!! he,he
    I hope you and your grandmom had a lovely thanksgiving!
    I love this recipe look really yummy and nice pics, huggs, gloria

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  2. that looks delish!

    i've never liked sweet potato pie until this Thanksgiving. my sister made it and it was sooo good! i was in shock. with vanilla icecream it was perfect!

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  3. That is so lovely! I love sweet potatoes and have some in my fridge, just need to put my mind into baking one for myself too! Thanks for sharing:D

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  4. The autumn leaf crust is so beautiful. You must have been so proud!

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  5. Sweet potato is one of my favorite pies,though I've never had it with maple. I sounds delicious! I can't believe you've been baking for less than a year- That pie is gorgeous! I love the maple leaves around the edge. :)

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  6. it is unbelievable to me that you just started baking. I can't believe the things you create. this pie and the little leave are adorable.

    A far as the cat, I should have called her Miss Pootie! she is currently on the market for a Mr. :)

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  7. Your sweet potato pie looks terrific! I like the maple syrup in the filling, and love the cute leaf decorations!

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  8. wow great pie and good for you doing it from scratch love the leaves on it Rebecca

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  9. I love sweet potato and this looks very appetising, wish I could have joined you. Diane

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  10. Well, that's just beautiful! And less than a year experience...wow. We have always had pumpkin and/or pecan pies for Thanksgiving but sweet potato pie is just as delicious.
    \
    And I completely agree that we should be thankful everyday for the great things in our lives. Whenever I'm having a bad day and have been complaining about things not going my way, I try to sit back and think about everything that I do have. We all have problems and things to complain about, but we also have many things to be thankful for... it just seems to be harder to think of those positive things. Happy Post-Thanksgiving to you, friend. I'm thankful to have found you.

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  11. Seriously, you have a gift. This looks incredible! I can't bake pies to save my life and yours look so good!

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  12. Your pie is gorgeous with those cute little maple leafs! Your baking is impressive - I would of guessed you had been baking all of your life!

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  13. How curious that the shapes are baked separately! They're gorgeous, though. Your pie sounds amazing, Ree! I hope you had a wonderful, cozy Thanksgiving :D

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