Southern Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
My Southern sweet potato pie recipe is sure to be a Thanksgiving, Christmas, and holiday classic. Although most southern sweet potato pies are similar to pumpkin pies, historical recipes for sweet potato pie were very different.
Abby Fisher, a slave born in South Carolina in 1832, moved to California after the Civil War. In 1881 she published a cookbook entitled “What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking,” and one of the recipes is a southern sweet potato pie recipe. It’s very different from modern southern sweet potato pie recipes, so if you are looking for something unique, try my recipe based on the historic recipe. Not only does my southern sweet potato pie recipe have a secret ingredient, but it also has fewer calories than most sweet potato pie recipes. If you’re looking for a healthy southern sweet potato pie recipe, this is it.
Southern Sweet Potato Pie Recipe Ingredients
My southern sweet potato pie recipe is easy and unique. By microwaving the potatoes instead of boiling them, the sweet potato pie is not only fast and easy but also more nutritious because none of the nutrients can leach out into the boiling water. Although a traditional southern sweet potato pie recipe will likely be spiced like a pumpkin pie, the use of citrus is a total and complete change. While combining citrus with sweet potato may seem odd, my experience with Argentine cuisine assured me that the combination would be delicious. However, I lost all hesitation when I learned that Mary Randolph, daughter-in-law to Thomas Jefferson, published a cookbook in 1824 called The Virginia Housewife and included a recipe for “sweet potato pudding” that calls for lemon zest and nutmeg. I knew that the uncommon use of lemon or other citrus in sweet potato pie would be delicious.
When thinking about the other sweet potato pie ingredients, I stayed true to Southern cuisine. Evaporated milk is a Southern staple due to its shelf life, and brown sugar is featured in many Southern recipes. Although making the best southern sweet potato pie recipe was my main focus, I also tried to make a sweet potato pie healthy. For instance, using only 2/3 cups of sugar total, evaporated milk instead of cream, as well as following the original recipe and only using 1 tablespoon of butter instead of an entire stick, my southern sweet potato pie is much lighter than most.
Although a storebought pie crust is fine, my oil and butter pie crust with no shortening is a quick, easy, and delicious addition to this southern sweet potato pie recipe.
Southern Sweet Potato Pie Recipe With Evaporated Milk
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato (300g)
- -use 3/4 cup of mashed sweet potato (250g)
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar (80g)
- 1/3 cup white sugar (70g)
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk (120g)
- 2 Tablespoon orange juice (30g)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (1 medium orange)
- 3 large eggs
- *1 9-inch pie crust
Instructions
- Poke a few holes in the sweet potato, wrap in plastic wrap, and then microwave on HIGH for 6 minutes
- Peel sweet potato, and use 3/4 cup (250g) of sweet potato for the pie. Slightly mash the sweet potato before making the filling.
- *Preheat oven to 350 F
- Combine ingredients for the filling.
- Beat for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour into an unbaked 9-inch pie shell
- Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes
Southern Sweet Potato Pie Recipe Video
Be sure to check out my video tutorial for southern sweet potato pie:
Sources:
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe by an African Slave, Cookbook printed in 1881 – everythingPIES.com
