Purple Sweet Potato Pie

 

This week’s bake is a Purple Sweet Potato Pie from Zoe Francois of Zoe Bakes !  It’s naturally purple sweet potatoes baked into an all butter crust and topped with a mound of toasted Italian Meringue !

The Stokes Purple sweet potato hails from North Carolina. Mike Sizemore, a sweet potato farmer, received some purple-colored potatoes as a gift from an unidentified woman. He liked them so much that he began to cultivate them, eventually obtaining a patent and, in 2006, launched them in the commercial market.

The Okinawan sweet potato originated in Central and South America. It is believed that explorers introduced them to the Philippines and China in the 15thcentury, and the potato then made its way to Japan in the 1600's. Initially planted in Okinawa, the southern island of Japan, they were soon cultivated all over Japan. Eventually, these purple potatoes wound up in Hawaii and became a part of the native menu, where they are also known as "Hawaiian sweet potatoes." Today, they are widely grown in Hawaii and exported to the United States mainland.

Available from late August through late spring, the Stokes Purple sweet potatoes, with a purple-tinted skin and bold purple flesh, have a drier, denser texture, and better-balanced sweetness than their orange counterparts. The key to getting maximum flavor and color from a Stokes Purple is to bake it longer than you would a regular sweet potato and at moderate heat, about 90 to 120 minutes at 350 degrees, at which point it becomes pleasingly moist.

Here is the recipe:

Purple Sweet Potato Pie

from Zoe Francois of Zoe Bakes

Ingredients

One 9-inch deep dish crust 

24 oz (680g) purple sweet potato puree 

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup (150g) sugar

3 large eggs

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

Pinch salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp cardamom extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon extract

Italian Meringue

2 cups (400g) sugar

1 tbsp corn syrup

3/4 cup purple sweet potato cooking water strained through a fine mesh sieve

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cardamom extract

1 egg beaten (for brushing crust)

Instructions

Heat oven to 325°F.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the sweet potato puree, evaporated milk, sour cream, sugar, salt, extracts and eggs. Pour into the blind baked pie shell and paint the edge of the crust with the egg wash.

Bake the pie for about 75 minutes (may take longer depending on the temperature of the ingredients when they go in the oven) or until the sides start to puff and the middle is set, but still slightly wobbly. Cool completely, about 3 hours. The pie will be easier to cut once completely cool or refrigerated.

Italian Meringue

Prepare this and pile on JUST BEFORE SERVING! 

In a small sauce pan fitted with a Candy Thermometer, bring the sugar, purple potato water and corn syrup to a boil over medium-high heat. If any of the sugar crystals get onto the side of the pan, be sure to wipe them down with a wet clean pastry brush. The sugar needs to cook until it hits 248° F on the thermometer. This takes several minutes. 

Once the sugar syrup has reached 235° F, whip the egg whites in your stand mixer until they are medium peaks.

Once the sugar reaches the final temperature of 248°F, slowly pour it into the bowl of whipped egg whites while the beater is going on slow. Be sure to pour it along the bowl so that the hot syrup doesn’t hit the beater and splatter. Allow the eggs and sugar mixture to beat on medium high speed until the meringue is light, fluffy, glossy and bright blue. Add the extract and whip for another 30 seconds.

Mound half the meringue onto the chilled pie. Pipe the remaining meringue onto the mound to create a pattern. 

Toast the meringue with a Blow Torch just before serving.

Here are some pictures from the bake:

Have a great day !