My son had a school picnic today, and being a typical tired, stressed out parent, I didn’t pay attention until the last minute. So about 7:30 this morning I realized we were supposed to bring a dessert. I decided to bake a sweet potato pie using my grandmother Iuka’s recipe from Arkansas. But how fast could I do it?
Crust ingredients all gathered.
I got started at eight-to-eight. Newcastle were playing Aston Villa in the background.
Sweet potatoes ready to be prepared.
Chopping up blocks of butter for the crust.
Mixing the crust at 7:56.
Someone arrived to “help” if needed.
All mixed at 7:58.
The dough was ready to roll. I set it aside at 8:00 sharp to start on the potatoes.
Potatoes ready at 8:05.
Peeled by 8:08.
Chopped by 8:09.
Sliced sweet potatoes boiling.
I got the dough out of the fridge at 8:13 to roll it out.
By 8:15 it was flattened and ready.
I checked the size of the round at 8:16.
And then fitted it carefully into the dish a minute later.
One minute to trim the edges.
I added foil and ceramic weights to keep the crust from bubbling up while baking it a little.
A closeup of the weights.
Ingredients for the filling, ready at 8:25.
More “help” arrived!
The crust was done baking by 8:33. Thirteen minutes at 350 degrees firmed it up a bit.
Butter and sugar for the pie filling.
The boiled bits of sweet potato, ready to be pureed.
At 8:35 the sweet potatoes were pureed.
I try to clean as I go, but it ain’t always easy, especially when I’m in a hurry!
Two cups of mashed sweet potatoes, and a bit more for a big pie like this one.
Filling ready to mix at 8:38.
Mixing the pie filling.
Ready to pour into the pie shell at 8:41.
Poured into the shell at 8:43.
Ready for the oven!
Into the oven a moment later.
Pie done baking at 10:10. A big pie like this takes 75 minutes or more at 350 degrees F.
All done!
After the picnic — everyone loved it!
Steven E. F. Brown 