The Girl Who Played With Fire: Rosemary Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie

I have made several pumpkin pies from my pie recipe books, but had not tried any of the sweet potato pie recipes. My Grandma Dukes used to make the very best sweet potato pie, and I have never tasted one that I thought compared with hers. Unfortunately, I never asked her for her recipe. I finally decided to try one that sounded like a new take on the traditional sweet potato pie that was named "Rosemary Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie", by local pie author Ashley English. I had never seen the combination of these three ingredients, and was curious.

The crust of this pie was the usual  butter crust, which is chilled prior to filling. There were three other parts to this recipe. The filling consisted of pre-baked sweet potatoes, egg white and egg yolks, cream, butter, bourbon, maple syrup, brown sugar, freshly chopped rosemary, sea salt, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg! Yes, this is quite a list of ingredients, and took a little longer than usual to prepare. The topping is composed of pecans, butter, bourbon, and sea salt.

The topping is made prior to the filling. The butter is melted, and the other ingredients then added and boiled for 5 minutes. When this mixture is cooled, it is a nice candied topping. As stated earlier, the filling does take longer than the average to make. The cooled, cooked sweet potatoes are whisked with melted butter, cream, and egg yolks. The next step concerns boiling the bourbon over high heat for several minutes. In all honesty, I was not expecting the next event, which was the bourbon catching on fire in my sauce pan! After blankly staring at it for a minute, taking it off the stove, and then yelling that the pan was on fire, Rich came in and placed a lid over the pot, quickly putting it out. I realized that making pies can sometimes result in my temporary insanity when  things do not go as planned. I then proceeded to place the bourbon back on the stove, add the maple syrup and brown sugar, and boil again. (this time without incident).

The bourbon mixture is whisked into the sweet potato mixture, seasonings added, and finally the beaten egg whites are folded in. The filling is poured into the chilled crust. An egg wash of an egg yolk and water is brushed onto the rim. The candied pecan topping is placed carefully on top, and the pie is baked for one hour at 350 degrees.

After all of the hoopla over the fire and tedious pie assembly, I certainly had high hopes for this sweet potato pie. I eagerly cut myself a slice to test. (I was having a a guest over the next day, and needed to make sure it tasted okay!). I loved the texture of the pie - the egg whites make it very light. But I was somewhat disappointed that the pie was not as sweet as I had thought it would be. I think that it is more of a side dish for a main entree, somewhat like a sweet potato souffle at Thanksgiving. However, Rich and my guest really liked the subtle sweetness of the pie, with the hint of rosemary. I found that this pie seemed more like a dessert with an addition of whipped cream on the top.

To conclude, I would say that although this is a unique twist to sweet potato pie, it is not as good as my grandmother's pie. I may not find one as delicious as hers, but I will keep trying. In the meantime, I will probably make this pie again, but have two additions to the recipe: 1. Use a deep dish 9 inch pie pan (there was a lot more filling than goes in a regular 9 inch pan). and 2. Have a lid ready to put out the fire from the boiling bourbon!

A Pumpkin Pie for Any Season: Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

I have been trying to find new pie recipes for spring pies. Flipping through my pie books, there are basically strawberry, rhubarb, and custard pies from which to choose. I love strawberries, but unfortunately have a slight allergy to them, and I am too selfish to make a pie that I might not be able to indulge in. I am going to try making a rhubarb pie once my rhubarb plant of a few months produces next year, and I have tried most of the custard pies in my cook books. I started glancing at pies for other seasons and found a most interesting sounding pumpkin pie called "Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie with Candied Pumpkin Seeds", in  A Year of Pies by local author Ashley English. Since canned pumpkin is always available, and Martha Stewart claims canned is superior to fresh for cooking, I decided to go for this one. Also, my husband Rich loves ginger, so I thought this might be a treat for him.

The crust is the same gingersnap one that I used for my recent key lime pie from the same pie book. It is basically crushed ginger snaps that are mixed with butter and baked. The filling of the pie is fresh or canned pumpkin (I used canned), with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, sea salt, cream, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. These ingredients are simply combined and whisked together, then poured into the crust and baked. The unique part of the pie is the topping. The recipe calls for pumpkin seeds, but said that you could substitute those with pecans, which I did. The pecans or pumpkin seeds are toasted, These are cooled, and combined with melted butter, sugar, minced crystallized ginger, sea salt, and cloves.I took a taste of the topping at that point, and thought that it seemed a tad salty, so I put in another pinch of sugar. After the crust and filling have baked for 40 minutes, the topping is sprinkled on top, and the pie is baked for an additional 20 minutes.

This pie looks very appetizing when cooled and ready to slice. I really liked the ginger and pumpkin combination. I also enjoyed the creaminess of the filling, which the cream and milk created.  As I expected, Rich really liked the pie, He specifically appreciated the topping because of the strong ginger flavor that the minced crystallized ginger brought to the pecans. He ate the pie without any other topping, while I thought a dollop of whipped cream made it even more delightful.

We both devoured the pie very quickly. Although good anytime, this pie would be a different treat for Thanksgiving. I will definitely make this pie again. My husband will insist on it!