Happy Thanksgiving: "Pumpkin" Pie

Pumpkin Pi. Image from P. Smith via Wikimedia

Pumpkin pie might be the dessert of the holiday, but most people just heat up a Mrs. Smith's. That isn't really how it needs to be. This recipe will have a home made "pumpkin" pie hot out of your oven about an hour and a half after you get home from the grocery store. Most of that time will be spent waiting on the microwave or oven. The pie travels well and is easy enough for a non-cook to take on.

 A big part of the secret here is that this is not a pumpkin pie at all; it's a sweet potato pie. But once cooked you won't be able to tell the difference and sweet potatoes are much easier to work with.

"Pumpkin" Pie

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 2lbs)
6T soft butter
1/2c brown sugar
1/2t salt
2t pumpkin pie spice*
1c milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 graham cracker pie crust, store bought or homemade
1/4 cup of graham cracker or similar cookie crumbs (optional)

*Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of 3 parts cinnamon, 2 parts nutmeg, 2 parts clove, and 2 parts ginger (and sometimes allspice). So, 1/2t each nutmeg, clove, and ginger; and 1t cinnamon will work instead of pie spice.

First peel the sweet potatoes and chop into 1" cubes. Put the cubes into a microwave safe container with 1-2T water and microwave on high for 5min. Stir the potatoes, and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir again and check to see if the potatoes are soft (they probably aren't). Cook for 5 more minutes. Stir, check, zap until the potatoes are all soft. Depending on your microwave this should take 15-20min. Preheat oven to 350F

If you have a stand mixer: dump all the potatoes in your mixer bowl and use the normal beater attachment on low to smash your potatoes. With the mixer still running add butter, sugar, salt, and spice. Taste the mashed potatoes and adjust as needed. Add the milk. Turn up the speed and beat the daylights out of your potatoes. Add the eggs. Mix at medium speed to combine.

If you don't have a stand mixer:  Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork while adding the butter, sugar, salt, and spice. Just like you're making mashed potatoes. Adjust for taste. Get a hand mixer and use that to beat in the milk and eggs.

Now get your crust. I like a graham cracker crust for this as I think pumpkin/sweet potato pie is more like cheese cake than real pie, and the cracker crust compliments that well. If you have crumbs, sprinkle those into the bottom of the pie crust; they will help the crust not get soggy and thus serve better, but the pie will be perfectly delicious without. Now put the filling into the crust. You may have potato lumps in your filling. You have two choices: embrace the messiness of life and homemade pie or use a mesh strainer to separate the lumps out. I usually go with the former. They have a little texture, and they make it obvious this is a homemade pie.

Alternative option: don't use a crust at all and put the filling into individual ramekins. It will puff like a souffle. This might make this qualify as a healthy Thanksgiving dessert. A larger casserole will also work, but if I find out you've put marshmallows on top I will be very disappointed in you.

Put the pie (or ramekins) into the 350F oven and bake for about 45min, or until only the center still jiggles at all (pie/large casserole) or the top is brown and crackled (ramekin). As I said, this is lousy-cook friendly, it's hard to over cook. If you need a more scientific done point: eggs should be cooked to above 160F. Feel free to temp the center of your dessert. Let the pie cool on the counter and serve warm or refrigerate and serve chilled with homemade whipped cream.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy cream
1T sugar
1/2t vanilla (optional)

Combine the ingredients and whip with the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, the whisk attachment of your hand mixer, or the standard beater attachments of your hand mixer. Once firm peaks have formed, eat cream now or save in fridge (I've had no trouble saving whipped cream overnight). Firm peaks mean that the beater leaves deep tracks in the cream and if you turn them off, use them to scoop some cream, and flip the beaters over to look, the cream will stay in it's "top of a soft serve cone" shape without slouching/oozing.