Serves a Crowd

Jessie Hudson's Sweet Potato Pie

by:
April 28, 2011
4.5
4 Ratings
  • Makes one 9 inch pie
Author Notes

This pie will always taste like home. I remember having it every single Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I cannot imagine a holiday without it. This is the first recipe I was ever taught, and the one that's closest to my heart. I did not include a recipe for a crust, everyone has their favorite crust recipe (I'm a fan of Ina Garten's), and whether you decide to go with homemade or store bought (a la my little mama), go ahead and blind bake that crust before filling it and baking it, just be sure to cover it and don't let it brown. —goldenblind221

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups hot, mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 large potatoes)
  • 6 tablespoons softened butter
  • 3 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup whole milk (plus maybe 1/4 cup extra, to thin out the recipe if necessary)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (we use mexican vanilla extract, which is delicious if you have it available)
  • 1 blind-baked 9-inch pie crust
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice the sweet potatoes crosswise, about 1.5" thick, so they look like hockey pucks. Cook potatoes in a pot of boiling, salted water, covered, until tender. Drain and mash with the softened butter. Heap this mixture into the bowl of a food processor.
  2. Combine eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk, and vanilla in a bowl (I use a 4-cup measuring cup because it's easier to pour). Pulse this liquid into the sweet potato mixture until very smooth. You're looking for a consistency like that of a cake batter. You want it to have a little runniness, but it shouldn't be soupy. If it's too thick, add a little bit of that extra milk to help it along.
  3. Give it the ol' taste test. Check for deliciosity. Then pour this bad boy into that blind-baked pie shell and pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes. I suggest wrapping the edges of the pie crust in tin foil until about 10 minutes before you pull the pie out. Your pie is ready when it stops wobbling when you give it a good tap, and the crust is nicely browned.
  4. Let this sucker cool off before you slice into it. I like to garnish it with a generous dollop of freshly whipped cream and some chopped pecans, which I promise if you do the same, your tummy will thank you.
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Suzy Samba
    Suzy Samba
  • gingerroot
    gingerroot
  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • goldenblind221
    goldenblind221

Popular on Food52

7 Reviews

Suzy S.
Suzy S. December 27, 2011
I made this Sweet Potato pie recipe for Christmas and it was met with RAVE reviews. My mom, who is a Sweet Potato pie fanatic asked me for the recipe because she thought it was delicious. The only difference was that it took about 60 minutes in total for my pie to bake, not the 30 indicated here. Other than that, it was perfection.
 
nise327
nise327 August 19, 2011
Jessie Hudson was my grandmother and everything she cooked was amazing.
 
goldenblind221
goldenblind221 August 19, 2011
Really? How cool is that! Her recipe has been in our family's holiday repertoire for literally as far back as I can remember. We think it's amazing. :-)
 
gingerroot
gingerroot April 30, 2011
This sounds really delicious. I agree with AJ, I love the pecan (and whipped cream) garnish!
 
goldenblind221
goldenblind221 April 30, 2011
Thank you for the sweet comment. :) It really is the most basic recipe, but for whatever reason, it just rocks.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames April 28, 2011
This sounds scrumptious! Especially with the chopped pecans at the very end. Love it. ;o)
 
goldenblind221
goldenblind221 April 28, 2011
Thank you so much. :-D