sara’s sweet potato pie

listen: sara’s pie-list

My pastry chef mom’s soul-warming twist on pumpkin pie

Sara, my mom, is an honest-to-god chef. The culinary muses speak to her and through her. She can look at a dough and simply intuit if it needs a few drops of water or a sprinkle of flour. She can make 147 of the same pastry and they will all look identical. Somehow, she understands ratios and proportions without having to use a formula. And most amazingly and frustratingly, she does not rely on recipes.

mom with her cat, 1990

Once in a while, I convince her to jot a recipe outline down for me and they are endearing mind-maps. I have to do a bit of sorting to understand how it will work chronologically, but they have never failed me. Cute post-script, Sara has a tendency to mixup the words “sweet” and “sweat.” Sweat potato pie :-)

In addition to being a pastry prodigy, my mom also has outstanding and quirky taste in music. She loves Elliott Smith and Aretha Franklin; reggaeton and trap rap. We listened to a lot of Sheryl Crow and Aimee Mann in our Honda civic hatchback in the 90’s. As long as I can remember, she’s carried this purse made out of a Prince record. We saw The Shins live together once and she knew every word.

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When I asked Sara what she likes to listen to when baking pie, she said, “Miss Ohio by Gillian Welch is absolutely necessary.” I suppose it’s no surprise that Gillian Welch is my top favorite artist of all time, who I can and will ramble on about at various times on this platform. If you haven’t heard Miss Ohio, it’s a wistful, bluegrass ballad with the unforgettable lyric, “I want to do right but not right now.”

Mom also noted Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald, which I agree are baking mood-setters. I don’t know what it is about getting your hands into some dough, but it seems to illicit a broody, hankering in your heart feeling.

Give yourself permission to put on Sara’s playlist while you make this earthy, slightly-sweet pie. Maybe you’ll go through it a bit in the process, but the pastry is a salve. Eat it for breakfast the next day. You’re doing amazing, sweaty.

midge, sous chef.

duck, kitchen supervisor.

Sara’s Sweet Potato Pie

INGREDIENTS:

-One 9” unbaked pie shell

-Pureed sweet potato, 15 oz, or about 3 medium sweet potatoes (see method below.)

-2 whole cloves

-2 cinnamon sticks

-3 eggs

-3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

-1 cup evaporated milk

-2 tablespoons melted butter

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-Cinnamon to taste

-Black pepper to tase

METHOD:

To puree sweet potatoes:

Boil potatoes in enough water to cover. Add whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until potatoes are very tender. Remove skins when hot enough to handle. Puree in food processor.

Mix remaining ingredients together and pour into unbaked 9” pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50-55 minutes. Pie is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. The filling will have a bit of a jiggle to it.