Sunday pies

Weekend dinners meant delicious foods and a variety of dishes and delicious desserts for the family. We were especially excited about Sundays. As a child the routine and traditions were important and now they are great memories. These customs extended beyond my immediate family to that of my extended family. Therefore, we were guaranteed to have a lovely Sunday experience even when we went visiting my grandparents in the country.

The history
Sunday dinners meant eating early after church hours even if we did not go to church. Dinner was served around 3 pm. After relaxing and digesting a filling meal, my mother and us kids would make a dessert/cake/pie together. At first we watched my mother, then we helped her. As we grew older, we made it ourselves. My brothers used to be in the kitchen with us but soon enough it was only my older sister and me. Then as I got better, we would do alternate Sundays or our best recipes. We also experimented with non-traditional recipes too. Some would flop, some were great.

My sister was and still is amazing at making pies/cakes etc. I would love to bake with her today but she is on the other side of the Atlantic. However, luckily I continued the tradition and my oldest daughter is now quite proficient at baking. She does it much better than I do.

Today we made a family favorite which is very easy and tasty: sweet potato pie with vanilla ice cream.
Normally we do not measure the ingredients but I have done my best in order for you to make this recipe. It can be served with a dollop of whip cream but we prefer vanilla ice cream.

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Sweet Potato pie recipe

Pie crust

Ingredients

• 315 g (2 ½ cups)flour
• 1 tablespoon crystal sugar
• ⅛ tablespoon salt
• 250 g unsalted butter(cold)
• 1 cup (125ml) cold water
  

The Steps

1. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt) together in a container of your choice.

2. Cut up the cold butter in small blocks for ease of incorporation. A food processor can be used. However, I do it manually. Coat the butter with the flour until it forms a crumble.

3. Add enough cold water to make a smooth dough. (Adding enough water will ensure that the dough does not crumble when rolled. A bit of flour can be added later if needed).
   The dough is enough for a 24 cm pie dish or baking pan.

4. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before rolling it out.

5. Lightly flour the rolling pin and counter then roll out the chilled dough.

6. Grease the baking pan with butter.

7. Place the rolled out dough in the pan - lining it.
   

8. Trim off the extra dough around the pan. Roll edges of dough as you like.

9. Place lined pan in the refrigerator while making the Filling.

Tip- the cold butter, water and chilling of the dough are essential for a delicious flaky pastry.

The Filling

Ingredients

• 700g (1.5 llbs) sweet potatoes

• 135 -180g (¾ -1 cup) dark brown sugar (adjust to taste)

• 15-30 g (4 tablespoons) flour

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

• ¼ teaspoon grounded cloves

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  

• 3 medium eggs

• 120 ml (½ cup) heavy cream

• 85 g(3 oz) softened unsalted butter
  

The Steps
Preheat oven to 180°C or 350° F

1. Bake enough for approximately 700g baked sweet potatoes.

2. Remove peel of the potatoes.

3. Cool potatoes and place in a mixing bowl.
   

4. Using a hand held mixer or blender - beat until sweet potatoes are smooth.

5. Add all the remaining filling ingredients all at once and blend further until all are incorporated and the batter is smooth.
   

6. Remove the lined pan from the refrigerator and pour filling in the pie crust.
   

7. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the center is almost smooth.
   Tip - If the crush or top of the pie starts to brown too early - cover with a grease proof paper.

8. When baked - remove pie from the oven and cool completely.
   

9. Decorate with vanilla ice cream.
   

As you can see from the photo - the finished pie looked a bit caramelised at the top. That is due to the dark brown sugar which also add to the flavor.

This might not seem like such a special recipe but for me it conjures up sweet memories of my childhood.

If you try this recipe - please let me know.

Enjoy!!

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All photos are my own