Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients

• Salt
• Butter
• Eggs
• Sugar
• Water
• Brown sugar
• Milk
• Egg
• Cinnamon
• Flour
• Vanilla
• Nutmeg
• Sweet potatoes
• Can
• Half
• Cream
• Ginger
• Ice
• Sweet potato
• Ice water
• Evaporated milk
• Whipped cream

Directions

1. Start the crust by combining the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl: 1 cup flour, 2 tsp sugar, and a heaping 1/4 tsp salt. Add the butter and work it in with a pastry blender until only little pea-sized bits are scattered through the mixture. Add 1 Tbsp ice water at a time, tossing as you go, just until the dough is damp enough to pull into larger clumps. Bring the dough together into a ball on a lightly floured surface, then pat and smooth it into a 6-inch round. Cover the dough and refrigerate it until it firms up, about 60 minutes.
2. Take the dough out and roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round. To move it, fold it into a 1/2 circle and then into a 1/4 wedge, or loosely wrap it around your rolling pin, then settle it into a 9-inch standard pie plate and unfold it. Gently fit it into the plate and flute the edges if you want. Refrigerate the lined crust until thoroughly cold, about 1 hour, or freeze it for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Line the crust with foil or parchment paper, taking it all the way to the edges, then fill it with pie weights, dry beans, rice, or sugar until level with the top. Bake the crust in the preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lift the liner by all 4 corners and take out the weights. Poke the bottom of the crust about 10 times. Slide it back into the oven until the crust starts to look dry, about 8 – 12 minutes more. Move the crust to a wire rack to cool.
4. For the sweet potatoes, you can do this while the pie dough chills: poke each sweet potato 1 time on each side with a fork. Wrap each one separately in foil and set them on a baking sheet.
5. Bake the sweet potatoes in the 400 degree oven until a knife or skewer goes through easily and they are very soft throughout. Depending on their size, this takes about 50 – 60 minutes. Let them cool until just warm, about 30 minutes.
6. As the sweet potatoes sit, put the butter in a light-colored medium skillet to brown. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring now and then, until the butter smells nutty and little light brown flecks appear. Keep a close eye on it so it does not burn, then pour it into a dish to cool before the hot skillet takes it too far.
7. For the filling, bring the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the sweet potatoes in 1/2 and scoop out the flesh. Put it in a large mixing bowl and mash it very well with a potato masher until nearly smooth. You are looking for 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes.
8. Add the browned butter; follow with evaporated milk and brown sugar, then the eggs plus cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and vanilla. Blend everything together with an electric hand mixer until combined.
9. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust. Set the pie on a baking sheet and tent the edges with foil. Bake in the preheated oven until the center gives just a small wobble, about 40 – 50 minutes.
10. Move the pie to a wire rack and let it cool for 2 hours. Refrigerate it until you are ready to serve. If you like, finish with sweetened whipped cream, or use homemade marshmallow fluff when you serve it.