Dr. George Washington Carver's Sliced Sweet Potato Pie
Photos | Recipe
I’ve been catching up on Southern Cultures and was reading Teresa Parker Farris‘s piece on art and the environment in the South and William Thomas Okie‘s essay on broomsedge, both focus on devastation and consequences of resource intensive cash crops like rice, tobacco, and cotton, and the . Southern soils were left wasted and exhausted. Then, because this is how the world works, while doing minor reasearch on this pie, I discovered Dr. George Washington Carver included this recipe in his thirty-eighth agricultural bulletin.
Over the course of forty-five years, he wrote forty-four bulletins detailing experiments, products, and techniques aimed at “the man farthest down.” He aimed to educate and aid the poorest farmers, the children of ex-slaves, working land exhausted by the plantation crops. Peanuts, soy, sweet potatoes, cow peas, all were included in his goal of giving these farmers tools to revive their land and prosper.
Found via a Southern Living article on Lost Pies. It possibly existed in some form before Dr. George Washington Carver distributed a recipe in his newsletter.
The pie? It’s good. It wasn’t as sweet as I’d care for. The sorghum molasses was on the strong side. It hasn’t aged well, but I think using honey, more cream, a splash of booze, and topping with a pecan streusel would compliment the potatoes very well and maintain the beauty and drama of the pie.
Next go, because there will be a next go, is going to see swapping out half-and-half or cream for the reserved water, doubling the sugar, and using honey in place of sorghum.
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Sliced Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie (store-bought or recipe below)
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 3 pounds)
1/4C Sugar
2TBL all-purpose flour
1tsp ground allspice
1/2tsp ground ginger
1/2tsp ground nutmeg
1/4tsp ground cloves
2TBL cream, evaporated milk, or half-and-half
1/3C molasses, sorghum, pure cane syrup, or honey
1/2C hot water, reserved from the cooking liquid
3TBL cold butter
Directions
Dough for a double crust 9” deep-dish pie.
Place the unpeeled sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Over high heat, bring to a full boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook til tender enough to slice—15 to 30 minutes. You may need to remove smaller potatoes while larger ones finish. Remove to a plat when cooked.
Line a 9” deep-dish pie plate and chill.
Combine sugar, flour, and spices in a small bowl.
Combine the molasses and hot water from the potatoes, then add your dairy of choice.
When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes. Slice long ways, into planks, about 1/4” thick.
Place two layers of sweet potatoes in the shell, spread about a third of the flour/spice mix, two more layers of potatoes, 1/3 of the mix, finish with two more layers—mounded toward the center, and the rest of the mix.
Dot with butter and pour the molasses/water mix over the pie.
Roll out top crust, cover, vent, and chill.
While chilling, preheat the oven to 350˚.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, till the filling bubbles from the vents and the crust is nicely baked.
Remove, cool to room temp, and enjoy!
