As I was going through the pile of recipes that seemed appropriate for holiday menus, I quickly realized I had far more recipes than I could reasonably test. I try to test about 10 to 15 new recipes a week and that adds up to a lot of leftovers. So, one evening when baked sweet potatoes were on our menu, I baked some extra ones so I could have them on hand in order to test two of the three recipes below.
I’ve gotten beyond the point of needing gooey sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows on the Thanksgiving groaning board. I just enjoy plain old baked sweet potatoes topped with a lovely pat of real butter and a light sprinkle of cinnamon. If you happen to have any leftover sweet potatoes after your holiday feast, you can prepare one of these recipes. In fact, these recipes are so good you may want to bake those sweet potatoes a day or two before Thanksgiving so you can add them to your menu.
The third recipe is a “rerun” but is so wonderful I want to share it with you again in case you missed it the first time. I lightly spray pie plates with cooking spray before placing the crust in them and I usually pre-bake the crust (with pie weights on aluminum foil but dried beans will work too) for about eight minutes before putting a custard-type filling into it.
A word of caution: do remove the pie weights or beans before you put the custard in!
I’ve also read that spreading a beaten egg white over the crust before filling will prevent the crust from getting too soggy.
Pillsbury’s Cream Cheese-Sweet Potato Pie
Cream Cheese Layer
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, not softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (*)
Sweet Potato Layer
1 cup mashed cooked dark orange sweet potatoes (about 3/4 lb uncooked)
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (*)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
Crust
1 frozen deep dish pie crust
Topping
1 cup sweetened whipped cream
Note: (*) The orange peel is a key flavoring ingredient for this recipe and I suggest you not make the recipe if you don’t plan to use it. You can purchase jars of dried grated orange peel in the spice selection in most grocery stores.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cookie sheet on oven rack. Place cream cheese and sugar in a small bowl and beat on low speed until well blended. Add egg and beat well. Stir in orange peel and set aside.
Place sweet potatoes in food processor; cover and process until smooth. In large bowl, beat sweet potato layer ingredients with wire whisk. Spread cream cheese mixture on bottom of frozen pie crust. Carefully spoon sweet potato mixture over cream cheese mixture.
Bake on cookie sheet for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes before refrigerating and cooling completely until chilled. Top with whipped topping to serve.
