We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this classic soul food recipe, which is often preferred to pumpkin pie by African-Americans. As you probably know, Lanzarote’s sweet potatoes are the best in the world, so make the most of them.
First published in Gazette Life, November 1st 2020.
Ingredients:
500g sweet potato (choose the “yema de huevo” (egg yolk) variety for deep golden colour)
170 grams unsalted butter
340g soft brown sugar
170 mls milk
2 large eggs
Half tspn freshly ground nutmeg
Half tspn ground cinnamon
Half a vanilla pod or 1 tspn vanilla extract
For the pie crust
420g white flour
170g salted butter, cubed and chilled
Half tspn salt
3-4 tbspns very cold water
Method
Prepare the pie crust by mixing the flour and salt and working the butter into it until you have a rough-textured crumb texture, Add cold water and mix until dough starts to clump roughly. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 mins before rolling dough out and lining 9” pie dish. Freezing the prepared dish gives great results.
Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Keep mixing until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into the unbaked pie crust.
Bake at 175 degrees C for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souټe, and then will sink down as it cools.
Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
