Sweet Potato Pie

As soon as Jim heard I had bought some Sweet Potatoes, his first words were, "Are you going to make some Sweet Potato Pie"?  My Mother could make the best sweet potato pie I have ever eaten. As years went by, I never wrote down my Mother's recipe for her Sweet Potato Pie.  I can only go on how I remember them to taste like, so I set out on a quest to make the closest tasting recipe I could find.  I do remember that she always made two pies at a time. She cooked her sweet potatoes first and then mashed them.  She added milk and eggs with a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Oh, what I would give to have her recipe. Although I don't have my Mother's recipe for Sweet Potato Pie, I do have her pie tin and pie plate she use to bake in. 

The recipe I have come to use which taste so much like my Mother's is from a friend of mine who has been a part of our local Yamboree Pie Contest for years and was featured on the Food Network Show, All-American Festivals Episode: East Texas Yamboree.

Sweet Pot Pie
adapted from Mary Beth Johnson

2 pie crust for 9" pie (recipe follows)
3 cups cooked, peeled and mashed sweet potatoes (I mash mine in the food processor)
2 heaping teaspoon corn starch
2 cup milk (canned, half and half, cream or whole milk)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out pie crusts and place it in the pie plates. In a large bowl add the remaining ingredients and mix well with a wire whisk. Pour into the unbaked pie shells. Bake for 45 minutes or until pie is firm. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Pie Crust (recipe for 4 pie crusts):

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups shortening (butter flavored)
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Mix flour, shortening, salt and sugar together with a pastry blender until well blended. Slightly beat egg, water and vinegar together with a whisk and pour over the well blended flour mixture. Mix all ingredients together with a fork. Divide crust into 4 equal parts. Roll each with a rolling pin and place into 4 pie pans. Flute edges of crust.

Join the fun here!