While I like Squash and Pumpkin Pies, I have to say that this Sweet Potato, Eggnog, and Bourbon Pie tops my list in this category of pies! Flavored with eggnog, bourbon, and warm spices, this pie is luxuriously silky smooth. Add a dollop of whipped cream when serving, if desired.
Sweet Potato Pie has its roots in the Southern United States and is a dessert often enjoyed in that Region for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Similar in looks, texture, and taste to their cousins, pumpkin and squash, sweet potatoes are naturally sweeter than either.
It’s hard to say exactly how much sweet potato to cook to yield 1¾ cups. Generally speaking, 1¾ lbs of sweet potatoes should be enough but, to be on the safe side, I suggest cooking 2 lbs. Depending on their size, this could be 2-3 sweet potatoes.
There are different methods of cooking the potatoes but I recommend placing them on a tinfoil or parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet and baking them in the oven until a fork easily inserts into the potato flesh.
I find baking the sweet potatoes adds greater depth of flavor and helps their natural juices develop a caramelized flavor that deepens the pie’s flavor profile. As well, the dry heat of baking versus boiling the potatoes ensures that no extra moisture is injected into the potatoes potentially making the filling overly wet. Make sure you put the potatoes on a baking sheet as they will start to release their sweet juice as they bake and this will prevent an oven clean-up job (I think you can probably guess how I know this!).
If the sweet potatoes yield more than 1¾ cups mashed, only use 1¾ cups in this recipe as the amounts of other ingredients in the pie filling are based upon 1¾ cups of mashed potato and this filling makes a very deep, full pie. The sweet potatoes may be baked, mashed, and refrigerated a couple of days in advance of when you plan to make the pie. If you have some leftover mashed sweet potato beyond what is needed for this pie filling, pop it in the freezer for another use – it can be used just as you would use pumpkin, for example, in baked goods like muffins and quick breads.
This is a large pie so you will need a deep pie plate that is at least 9″ in diameter (and preferably 9½“ – 10”) and that has the capacity to hold about 4 cups of liquid ingredients. I strongly recommend that, before you begin to make the pie, you measure water into the pie plate you intend to use and ensure that it can take about 4 cups of liquid (remember the pie shell, itself, will take up some of the space in the pie plate). Otherwise, you will have more filling than room for in the pie plate.
Not all 9″, 9½“ or 10” diameter pie plates are created equal – some are, in fact, quite shallow and will not accommodate this amount of pie filling. Pie plates may have the same diameter but not the same depth and you don’t want to make the filling only to discover that your pie plate is not large enough to accommodate it. This is intended to be a lovely deep pie and I find the best size for the amount of filling is a 9½“ pie plate.
If you are planning to use a store-bought pie shell instead of making your own, I am aware that some companies advertise on the packaging that they are “deep dish” pie shells; however, I doubt (but can’t say for certain since I don’t use them) that they would be large enough or deep enough to accommodate the amount of filling in this recipe.
I have provided a pastry recipe that calls for the pie shell to be par-baked (blind baked) before adding the filling. With my Squash and Pumpkin Pies, I follow the procedure used by my mother and grandmother who did not par-bake the pastry before adding the filling. I have tested this Sweet Potato, Eggnog, and Bourbon Pie both ways and found that either works though you may find using the unbaked pie shell may yield a slightly softer pie crust than par-baking which will yield a crisper crust. So, the choice is yours as to whether you wish to par bake the pie crust or not.
This filling works well for tarts, too. Both the pie and tarts freeze well stored in an airtight freezer container. The pie can be frozen whole or sliced. If slicing before freezing, I recommend separating the pie slices with pieces of waxed paper so they do not freeze together. Simply let the pie, slices, or tarts thaw at room temperature and they’ll be just like fresh baked from the oven.
The pie is lovely as is or it can be dressed with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
[Printable recipe follows at end of post]
Sweet Potato, Eggnog, and Bourbon Pie
Ingredients:
Pastry:
Pastry for deep dish 9″, 9½” or 10” single crust pie:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour, if required)
1¼ tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup butter
¼ cup lard
1 large egg, beaten
¾ tsp white vinegar
Enough ice-cold water to equal 2/3 cup when combined with the beaten egg and vinegar
Filling:
2 lbs sweet potatoes (See Note below)
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp full-fat eggnog, room temperature
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2½ tbsp bourbon
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1¼ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ginger
¼ tsp salt
Method:
For Baking Sweet Potatoes:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Position oven rack in center of oven.
Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or tinfoil. Spray lightly with cooking spray.
Wash sweet potatoes and prick all over with tines of fork. Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake potatoes until fork inserts easily into potatoes. Depending on the size of potatoes, this can take anywhere from about 45-60+ minutes. Remove potatoes from oven and cool enough to handle. Split potatoes open and scoop out pulp into a bowl. Mash well with a potato masher and measure out 1¾ cups of mashed potato. Set aside. Even if the mashed potato yields more than 1¾ cups, only use 1¾ cups in the recipe.
For Pastry:
In medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. Cut the butter and lard into small chunks and add to the flour. Toss to coat the fats with the flour mixture. With a wire pastry cutter, cut the butter and lard into the flour until the fats resemble the size of large peas.
In a measuring cup, whisk the egg and vinegar together. Add enough ice-cold water to measure 2/3 cup. Add the egg-vinegar-water mixture to the flour, small amounts at a time, and mix with a fork. Add only enough liquid mixture that the dough clings together and can be formed into a ball. Note that it is unlikely that the entire 2/3 cup of liquid will be needed. Do not overwork dough or it will become tough.
Form dough into disk shape, place in sealed plastic bag, and transfer to refrigerator for about 25-30 minutes to chill. Remove disk from the refrigerator and, on lightly floured surface, roll pastry to desired thickness, generally between 1/16”and 1/8” thick and large enough in diameter to line pie plate. Transfer pastry into a deep 9″, 9½”, or 10” diameter pie plate that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray or very lightly greased and has the capacity to hold approximately 4 cups of liquid filling. Trim excess dough and finish pastry edges as desired. Dock pastry bottom in several places with fork tines to prevent air pockets from forming while the crust bakes. Refrigerate pie shell for a minimum of 30 minutes (or place in freezer for 20 minutes or so) in order to reduce pastry shrinkage during baking.
While pastry shell is chilling, position oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.
Crumple and distress a piece of parchment paper large enough to mold around the inside of the pie plate, being careful not to tear the paper and allowing enough overhang by which to grasp it to remove the dry beans or ceramic pie weights that will be placed in it for blind baking and which will be removed part way through the crust par-baking process. This crumpling/distressing procedure will weaken the parchment paper, allowing it to be more pliable for fitting into the pie plate. Depending on the quality of parchment paper, repeat with a second piece of distressed parchment paper, if necessary. The paper lining needs to be strong enough to hold the pie weights/dry beans when they are being lifted from the pie shell part way through the par-baking.
Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator (or freezer) and place on a rimmed cookie sheet or pizza pan for ease of transfer to and from oven. Carefully fit the distressed parchment paper inside the pie shell. Repeat with the second layer of parchment paper, if necessary. Add ceramic pie weights or dry uncooked beans, filling the pie plate about 2/3 to ¾ full, ensuring the pie weights/dried beans are evenly distributed.
Transfer pie shell to the oven and immediately reduce the oven heat to 375°F. Bake pie shell for 17-18 minutes. Remove shell from oven and carefully remove the pie weights/dried beans and parchment paper and transfer them to a heatproof bowl. Be very careful as the pie weights/dried beans will be hot!
As some of the earlier pierced holes in the pie shell may have filled in during the blind baking process with the pie weights/dried beans, further pierce the pie shell in several places with the tines of a fork, if necessary, to prevent it from forming air bubbles as it continues to bake. Return pie shell to oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool shell in pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes before adding filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
While pie shell is cooling, prepare the filling as follows.
For Filling:
Place 1¾ cups of mashed sweet potatoes in bowl of food processor (or blender). Pulse several times to start to purée the sweet potato. Add cool melted butter and purée potato until smooth, stopping as necessary to scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.
Blend in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, pulsing after each addition to blend in with the potato.
In small bowl or measuring cup, combine the eggnog, maple syrup, bourbon and vanilla. Slowly pour in to the chute of the food processor or blender while pulsing machine.
In bowl, combine sugars, cornstarch, spices, and salt. Add the sugar-spice mixture, about a third at a time, to the sweet potato mixture, pulsing after each addition. When all ingredients have been added, purée mixture an additional 30 seconds. Refrigerate filling until pie shell has cooled a bit.
Transfer filling to prepared pie shell. Bake pie for 65-75 minutes until top is set and knife inserted into center of pie comes out clean. Place pie on wire rack to cool completely to room temperature. Pie cuts best if refrigerated for at least 2 hours. Add a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
Yield: 8 servings
Note:
1¾ cups of mashed cooked sweet potato is required for this recipe. Even if the amount of cooked potato equals more than 1¾ cups, only use 1¾ cups mashed potato in this recipe.
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You may also enjoy these other Pie recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen:
Classic Pumpkin Pie
Squash Pie
Sweet Potato, Eggnog, and Bourbon Pie
Ingredients
Pastry:
Pastry for 9”, 9½” or 10” single crust pie:
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour, if required)
- 1¼ tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup lard
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ¾ tsp white vinegar
- Enough ice-cold water to equal 2/3 cup when combined with the beaten egg and vinegar
Filling:
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes (see Note below)
- 3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp full-fat eggnog, room temperature
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2½ tbsp bourbon
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1¼ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
For Baking Sweet Potatoes:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Position oven rack in center of oven.
- Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or tinfoil. Spray lined sheet lightly with cooking spray.
- Wash sweet potatoes and prick all over with tines of fork. Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake potatoes until fork inserts easily into potatoes. Depending on the size of potatoes, this can take anywhere from about 45-60+ minutes. Remove potatoes from oven and cool enough to handle. Split potatoes open and scoop out pulp into a bowl. Mash well with a potato masher and measure out 1¾ cups of mashed potato. Set aside. Even if the mashed potato yields more than 1¾ cups, only use 1¾ cups in the recipe.
For Pastry:
- In medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. Cut the butter and lard into small chunks and add to the flour. Toss to coat the fats with the flour mixture. With a wire pastry cutter, cut the butter and lard into the flour until the fats resemble the size of large peas.
- In a measuring cup, whisk the egg and vinegar together. Add enough ice-cold water to measure 2/3 cup. Add the egg-vinegar-water mixture to the flour, small amounts at a time, and mix with a fork. Add only enough liquid mixture that the dough clings together and can be formed into a ball. Note that it is unlikely that the entire 2/3 cup of liquid will be needed. Do not overwork dough or it will become tough.
- Form dough into disk shape, place in sealed plastic bag, and transfer to refrigerator for about 25-30 minutes to chill. Remove disk from the refrigerator and, on lightly floured surface, roll pastry to desired thickness, generally between 1/16”and 1/8” thick and large enough in diameter to line pie plate. Transfer pastry into a deep 9”, 9½” or 10” diameter pie plate that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray or very lightly greased and has the capacity to hold approximately 4 cups of liquid filling. Trim excess dough and finish pastry edges as desired. Dock pastry bottom in several places with fork tines to prevent air pockets from forming while the crust bakes. Refrigerate pie shell for a minimum of 30 minutes (or place in freezer for 20 minutes or so) to chill in order to reduce pastry shrinkage during baking.
- While pastry shell is chilling, position oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.
- Crumple and distress a piece of parchment paper large enough to mold around the inside of the pie plate, being careful not to tear the paper and allowing enough overhang by which to grasp it to remove the ceramic pie weights or dried beans that will be placed in it for blind baking and which will be removed part way through the crust par-baking process. This crumpling/distressing procedure will weaken the parchment paper, allowing it to be more pliable for fitting into the pie plate. Depending on the quality of parchment paper, repeat with a second piece of distressed parchment paper, if necessary. The paper lining needs to be strong enough to hold the pie weights/dry beans when they are being lifted from the pie shell part way through the par-baking.
- Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator (or freezer) and place on a rimmed cookie sheet or pizza pan for ease of transfer to and from oven. Carefully fit the distressed parchment paper inside the pie shell. Repeat with the second layer of parchment paper, if necessary. Add ceramic pie weights or dry uncooked beans, filling the pie plate about 2/3 to ¾ full, and ensuring the pie weights/dried beans are evenly distributed.
- Transfer pie shell to the oven and immediately reduce the oven heat to 375°F. Bake pie shell for 17-18 minutes. Remove shell from oven and carefully remove the pie weights/dried beans and parchment paper and transfer them to a heatproof bowl. Be very careful as the pie weights/dried beans will be hot!
- As some of the earlier pierced holes in the pie shell may have filled in during the blind baking process with the pie weights/dried beans, further pierce the pie shell in several places with the tines of a fork, if necessary, to prevent it from forming air bubbles as it continues to bake. Return pie shell to oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool shell in pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes before adding filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
- While pie shell is cooling, prepare the filling as follows.
For Filling:
- Place 1¾ cups of mashed sweet potatoes in bowl of food processor (or blender). Pulse several times to start to purée the sweet potato. Add cool melted butter and purée potato until smooth, stopping as necessary to scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.
- Blend in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, pulsing after each addition to blend in with the potato.
- In small bowl or measuring cup, combine the eggnog, maple syrup, bourbon and vanilla. Slowly pour in to the chute of the food processor or blender while pulsing machine.
- In bowl, combine sugars, cornstarch, spices, and salt. Add the sugar-spice mixture, about a third at a time, to the sweet potato mixture, pulsing after each addition. When all ingredients have been added, purée mixture an additional 30 seconds. Refrigerate filling until pie shell has cooled a bit.
- Transfer filling to prepared pie shell. Bake pie for 65-75 minutes until top is set and knife inserted into center of pie comes out clean. Place pie on wire rack to cool completely to room temperature. Pie cuts best if refrigerated for at least 2 hours. Add a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
Recipe Notes
Yield: 8 servings
Note: 1¾ cups of mashed cooked sweet potato is required for this recipe. Even if the amount of cooked potato equals more than 1¾ cups, only use 1¾ cups mashed potato in this recipe.
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