Sweet potato pie is a staple in the black community – A STAPLE! Trust me when I say this. Here’s a Washington Post article on how it became a very important dessert on our Thanksgiving tables. Unfortunately, not all pies are created equal. For me that means that as a general rule, I don’t eat everyone’s sweet potato pie. I’m very cautious because I hold this dessert very close to my heart; I’d hate for someone’s pie to ruin it for me. As much as I love this pie, I have to admit something: I’ve never made one before. Eeek! I know, the shock and horror.

But here’s the thing, I’ve had so many people in my life who made such phenomenal sweet potato pies, I never thought I could measure to their standards. So here we are. It’s a new day and I have a bit more confidence so I thought I’d finally experiment with a bourbon sweet potato pie. The added bourbon probably isn’t what our grandmothers had in mind when they passed down their sacred recipes but I like to experiment a bit. I’m sure my elders will approve.

When making this bourbon sweet potato pie, I didn’t want to stray too far away from the original flavor profile. The bourbon doesn’t change the flavor too much but it adds a little depth to it. Depth that I can get behind. And let’s talk texture. The texture of this pie is so creamy and yummy, I really just wanted to sandwich it in between two cookies. Does that sound like normal behavior?

Bourbon sweet potato pie

I’m sharing this pie recipe (1) because it needs to be shared and (2) because I’m participating in a Black History Month virtual potluck again! You may remember these two recipes from the last two years: olive oil braised collard greens and maple roasted Brussels sprouts. If you scroll down just a bit, you’ll see delicious recipes from 27 other Black food bloggers that I adore. Don’t sleep on these recipes.

OK, let me talk a little bit more about this pie…

I received guidance on this recipe from my mother-in-law who makes a delightful sweet potato pie. In addition to adding bourbon, I decided to go wild and add a maple whipped cream for fun. The funny thing? I don’t love whipped cream. If a dessert comes with it in a restaurant, I politely scrape it off – no hesitation. However, I was really into the idea of making a homemade whipped cream, which is crazy easy, by the way. I’ve made whipped creams before but because of my disdain of it, it’s not something I do on the regular.

If you’re a whipped cream lover, I’d suggest making it yourself. It really does taste so much better than the other junk you purchase in the store. Play around with different flavor profiles too – don’t be afraid – get crazy! The other non-traditional thing I decided to do was to brûlée a slice of the pie. This was just for fun and to see how it would turn out. Spoiler alert: it turned out great. If you want to try it, you’ll need a kitchen/culinary torch. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy to use. If you want to try it on this pie (or any pie), just sprinkle some sugar on a slice then use the torch to give it a crunchy and sweet top layer. I’d imagine a flaky finishing salt would also be good on this pie if you’re trying to “elevate” grandma’s recipe.

WARNING: if you purchase a torch, I’d practice using it first to get the hang of it. Maybe I’ll do a whole post on culinary torch safety.

OK, enough rambling – let’s make this bourbon sweet potato pie and while you’re at it, try the other 27 recipes below too!

Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie (with maple whipped cream)

January 31, 2019

by Shawanda | Eat. Drink. Frolic.

Category Desserts

Notes

*For the sugar, start with 1.5 cups and add more to taste. For the whipped cream, I kept a bowl in the fridge until I was ready to make the cream.

Ingredients

For the pie

2-2.5 lbs of sweet potatoes
1 stick of butter
2 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp bourbon
6 tbsp Carnation evaporated milk
1.5-2 cups of sugar*
2 pre-made pie crusts, frozen

For the maple whipped cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

To make the pie

Heat oven to 400 degrees and pre-bake the crusts until browned a bit. Remove from oven then reduce heat to 325 degrees.
Boil the potatoes (skin on) until tender (stick a knife or a fork in it to check progress).
In the meantime, add sugar and butter to a large bowl - set aside.
This is where you'll begin to use an abundance of bowls but bear with me: In a bowl, mix the milk, vanilla and bourbon together - set aside.
Get one more bowl and mix the nutmeg and eggs together - set aside.
When the potatoes are done, you can easily peel them using your hands or a dish towel (let the potatoes cool first). Run a bit of cold water over the potatoes to help cool them down.
After you've peeled the skin off of the potatoes, add them to the bowl with the sugar and butter. Using an electric hand mixer, beat until smooth. Do this a few times, removing the potato "string" from the pie (no one wants a pie with strings in it). Taste the filling and see if it needs additional sugar - add it if necessary.
Adding it gradually, mix in the nutmeg/egg mixture. Once that's well combined, gradually mix in the milk mixture - making sure the filling is at its desired consistency.
Carefully spoon the pie filling into the baked pies and smooth it out. Bake until the pie has reached a beautiful deep, golden color - 60-70 minutes.

To make the whipped cream

In a cold bowl*, add the cream and using an electric mixer, beat until soft peaks form.
Add in the maple and vanilla and continue mixing until stiff peaks form (you can make this a day ahead).