Baking · American-Southern
Sweet Potato Pie
Brown sugar, warm spice and sweet potatoes you cook and mash yourself.
- Hands-on
- 40 min
- Hands-off
- 3 h 30 min
- Oven preheat
- 15 min
- Total
- 4 h 10 min
- Makes
- 8 slices
- Serves
- 8
Cook: 20-30 min simmering the sweet potatoes + 50-60 min baking. Recipes often list 1 h 50 min total, which leaves out cooking the potatoes and cooling. Cooling 'completely' is not timed; we allow about 2 hours. Total = 40 min active + 210 min hands-off (20-30 min simmering, 50-60 min baking, about 2 h cooling); preheating overlaps making the crust.
Oven 180 °C · 160 °C fan (350 °F)
Pan 23 cm pie pan (US: 9-inch pie pan)
- medium
- vegetarian
- thanksgiving
- holiday
- southern
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? Made for one 23 cm (9 in) pie pan. Measure the mashed sweet potato (360 g / 1 1/2 cups) rather than counting potatoes - sizes vary a lot. Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: medium saucepan with lid · potato masher · mixing bowls · pastry blender or fork · rolling pin · 23 cm (9 in) pie pan · electric mixer · foil strip (5 cm / 2 in) · table knife for testing · wire rack · oven mitts
Contains: egg · milk · wheat
Method
Cook the sweet potatoes
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 5 cm (2 in) chunks. Cover with water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Drain.
Ready when: A fork slides into the biggest chunk with no resistance.
Mash and measure
Mash the drained sweet potatoes with a potato masher until smooth, then measure out 360 g (1 1/2 cups).
Otto tried this firstOtto drops four whole sweet potatoes into the mixing bowl. The recipe is built on 1 1/2 cups (360 g) of MASHED sweet potato - cook, mash, then measure.Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F).
Make the crust dough
Mix 120 g (1 cup) flour and 1/8 tsp salt in a bowl. Cut in 76 g (1/3 cup) cold butter with a pastry blender or fork until it looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in cold water with a fork, starting with 3 tbsp and adding up to 1 more, just until the flour is moistened. Shape into a ball and flatten it slightly.
Roll and line the pan
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 30 cm (12 in) circle. Fold it into quarters, set it in the 23 cm (9 in) pie pan and unfold, pressing it against the bottom and side. Trim to about 1 cm (1/2 in) past the rim and crimp the edge.
Beat the filling
In a bowl, beat the 360 g (1 1/2 cups) mashed sweet potato, 266 g (1 1/4 cups) brown sugar, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp nutmeg at medium speed until well mixed, scraping the bowl often. Add 240 ml (1 cup) evaporated milk and the 3 eggs and beat at low speed just until combined.
Bake
Pour the filling into the crust and bake 50 to 60 minutes. If the crust edge browns too fast, cover it with a 5 cm (2 in) strip of foil.
Ready when: A knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. If you use a thermometer, the centre should be at least 71°C (160°F), the food-safety target for egg dishes.
Cool, then refrigerate
Cool the pie completely on a wire rack, then keep it in the fridge. Top with whipped cream to serve, if you like.
Swaps
- Instead of home-cooked mashed sweet potato: 1 1/2 cups (360 g) vacuum-packed canned mashed sweet potatoes Skip the cooking and mashing steps.
- Instead of homemade crust: 1 refrigerated rolled pie crust For a filled one-crust pie, don't prick; bake as the recipe says. Store-bought crusts may contain lard.
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Storage
- Store refrigerated. It's an egg-and-milk custard pie: refrigerate within 2 hours of cooling and eat within 3 to 4 days.
If something goes wrong
- Crust edge too dark before the filling is set Why: Edge exposed for the whole bake.
Cover the edge with a 5 cm (2 in) foil strip as soon as it's well browned.
Good to know
- Cut the peeled sweet potatoes into 5 cm (2 in) chunks before simmering; similar-sized chunks are easier to judge with the fork test.
- Keep the crust butter and water cold; take the butter from the fridge just before you cut it in.
Safety
- Draining a pan of boiling water and potatoes is an adult job: tip it away from you into a colander in the sink.
- Don't taste the raw filling: it contains raw egg. Raw crust dough has raw flour - don't snack on it either.
- Use oven mitts; kids should let an adult move the pie in and out of the oven.