Sweet Potato Pie

My sister-in-law makes the best sweet potato pie I've ever tasted. She gave me the recipe a few years ago. I had been making it by the book, but I started tinkering with it this Thanksgiving. I made some additional enhancements today. I may have improved perfection! First, I make my own crust. My family just doesn't do the scratch crusts anymore; Pet-Ritz crusts have treated us well all these years. We've kinda moved up to the ones you unfold and bake.

I'm the one to break tradition. Let me say here that the food processor can be your best friend when making pie dough. Love your food processor. Name your food processor. Miracle is below.
If only I would learn how to flute properly. I want angled flutes, but I end up with these each and every time.
Hopefully, your potatoes are cooking while you make the crust. My family boils the potatoes. I bake them. You've heard me say it before:  roasting intensifies flavor and helps those natural sugars do their thing. See the caramelization in the left pic below, that's what you're looking for. You'll never get that kinda flavor with boiling!

The most important thing when making sweet potato pie is to mash the potatoes while they are hot! You'll end up with stringy foolishness if you let them cool before mashing. Old Faithful, my KitchenAid stand mixer, makes quick work of mine. You will have a few strings, but they should be stuck to the paddle. Do not mix them back in.
 
As far as the rest of the ingredients go, they are standard: sweetened condensed milk, eggs, sugar, vanila, nutmeg and cinnamon. I wish I had a beautiful photo to end with, but it is what it is. When I take the pies out of the oven, they're a little puffy. They deflate as they cool. This pies were for someone else, so I couldn't cut into them. I did make a test pie (dough scraps and left over filling) and it was good. I hope these are liked.

 Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Food Processor
• Pastry Mat
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• French Rolling Pin
• Pie Crust Protector

Braces & A Birthday

I welcomed 34 with a determination to conquer my nemesis, pie dough! How fortuitous Cook's Illustrated came out with a new Foolproof Pie Dough recipe -- the stars were starting to align. This pie dough has vodka in it to help reduce the amount of gluten formed during preparation.

It has been a hit! I can now make, roll and place pie dough properly in the pie plate. The keys to success are my dough mat (it helps me roll a large enough circle) and parchment. I'll probably buy a French rolling pin next week because it's supposed to be easier to use than the ball bearing kind.


I got to use my birthday treat, decorative pie crust cutters from Williams-Sonoma. They are so cute. I wanted a custard pie with complex flavoring. If you can make lavender crème brulée, why does egg custard pie have to be boring? My favorite teas are Earl Grey and Honeybush Caramel. I toyed with making a tea flavored custard. I love coconut and caramel. I had decided on that until I found I was out of coconut milk and coconut extract. I did find some pecan flavoring. Pecan and caramel ... things were getting interesting. Could I make pecan flavored custard and use caramel sauce to make pretty designs in the custard before it baked? My challenge was set! I wimped out on the caramel sauce. I chose caramel syrup instead.

The pie crust rolled out perfectly! My fluting was beautiful! It all went away during the blind baking, but hey! This is the furthest I've ever gotten. Could it be my pie weights? I used the whole jar when I guess it was supposed to be half. Oh well. At least I got the first part right. The shrinkage was disappointing, but I guess it's to be expected. My filling is beautiful, the crust is a little dark for my tastes, but I'm closer to my goal. If I make one pie a week, I ought to be perfect by Thanksgiving.

I got braces for my birthday. I'm happy because my teeth have stopped aching. My mouth is still to sore to chew properly, but I've discovered the joy of homemade soup and sauteed crab. I've made tomato basil, butternut squash and carrot soup in the last six days. I purchased the can crab a week before my braces. It's a good thing I did. I heat a mix of olive oil and butter with fresh garlic and Old Bay. I throw in the crab and heat until warmed through. Delicious!


Tools of the trade:

• Pie Crust Cutters
• French Rolling Pin
• Pastry Mat