Let’s Go Cook
Sweet Potato Meringue Pie
by Stephen Ruffin

I’m amazed that the holidays have come and gone with such lightning speed. As usual I’ve made everything under the sun with the remainder of the turkey - turkey soup, turkey pot pie, turkey quiche and loads of turkey sandwiches. As I looked around the house to see what other leftovers I had to use up I spotted two remaining sweet potatoes lying in my pantry.

Though I like sweet potatoes, I don’t really eat them all that often. So I found myself at somewhat of a quandary as to how to cook them. Luckily the "blizzard-like" conditions occurred the other weekend and I found myself in the house with nothing to do.

One of my favorite recipes for sweet potatoes is with cream, maple syrup, salt and white pepper. This is basically a variation of scalloped potatoes that is very easy and always a crowd pleaser. As I sat watching it snow and snow and snow I thought, ‘how could I turn this into a pie?’

I wanted the sweetener to be of maple syrup and not sugar, like most pies. Through trial and error I discovered that approximately 1-½ cups of maple syrup will closely match the sweetening as 1 cup of regular sugar. With this discovered the only other variation I had to make was using room temperature butter for the creaming stage.

Normally when I cream butter with sugar I can start with relatively cool butter and the sugar will incorporate into a unified mixture. With the maple syrup I needed to add this to room temperature butter very slowly to create a good emulsion.

The remaining ingredients remain the same as the usual pumpkin pie other than the addition of white pepper. Though you really don’t taste the pepper you do feel a kick, which keeps this pie interesting. I decided to add a little excitement to the crust by making it with pecans and brown sugar in addition to the flour and butter. This is done quite easily in the food processor or with a pastry fork. Important note: if you ever run out of brown sugar simply add a little molasses to the sugar.

The only other extra step is to roast the sweet potatoes in a 400-degree oven for 1 hour and then allow them to cool to make the potatoes the right consistency for a pie. Once peeled the blender made easy work out of the potato.

Since most people traditionally serve sweet potatoes with marshmallows I decided to add one more step - I had lots of time, and it was a big storm. I decided to add a meringue to the top. Actually this meringue recipe tastes almost like marshmallows only better. This step really dresses up the pie. Of course if you want to keep it simple you could just add marshmallows, but the meringue is so easy, why not go ahead and try.

Sweet Potato Meringue Pie

1 Cup All Purpose flour

½ Cup chopped pecans

¼ Cup packed brown sugar

¼ Cup + 2 tablespoons cold butter cut into ¼ inch cubes

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

2 Cups sweet potato-cooked and peeled

1½ Cups Maple Syrup

1 Stick Butter – room temperature

3 Eggs

½ Teaspoon Ginger

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

½ Teaspoon Nutmeg

¼ Teaspoon White pepper

¼ Teaspoon Salt

½ cup cream

4 Egg whites - room temperature

1 Cup sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

For the crust: combine the first five ingredients in a food processor and pulse. Once mixture is well blended and resembles coarse meal, pour into a 9-inch pie plate and press down firmly to form the crust.

For the pie: With a blender, cream the butter and slowly add the maple syrup. Once complete add the eggs one at a time to assure proper emulsification. Add the potatoes and remaining spices and cream. Blend and pour into crust. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Meringue: Once the pie is out of the oven and partially cooled start working on the meringue. Take the room temperature egg whites and the sugar and place in a bowl large enough to fit over a pot of simmering water. Whisk immediately. Once the mixture has reached 140 degrees remove from the pot and whip with clean beaters until mixture has quadrupled in volume and peaks are firm. With a spatula, place the meringue on the pie making sure to start with the crust and work towards the center. Do not smooth. You want the meringue to have lots of peaks and valleys. Once complete, turn the broiler on and place pie on middle rack to brown the meringue. Once the meringue is golden brown remove the pie and allow it to cool completely to set.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe please email me at letstartcooking@aol.com. Good luck!