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Purple Sweet Potato Pie with Maple Cream

A velvety textured sweet potato pie just got way more festive because it's purple! The texture is a joy, and finishing with a maple syrup scented whipped cream makes this a showstopper of an autumn pie.
Course Dessert
Cuisine North American
Keyword maple syrup, pie cut outs, pie pastry, purple sweet potato, whipping cream
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Chill time for crust and baked pie 4 hours
Servings 8

Ingredients

  • One 9-inch deep dish crust, see link below for recipe, plus pastry cookie cut outs, see Notes
  • 680 g purple sweet potato puree, or 1 lb 8 oz, see Notes below
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk, or 354 ml
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup sugar, or more if potatoes aren't as sweet as you'd like
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • egg wash for crust

Whipped Cream topping

  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 cup whipping cream

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 325°F. Have either one large deep dish pie plate with par-baked crust, two regular sized prepared pie plates, or one pie plate and ramekins ready.

  2. Combine the sweet potato puree with the spices.

  3. 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.
  4. If you have more filling than will fill the pie shell, pour the remaining filling into one or two ramekins and bake along side the pie.

  5. Bake the pie for about 60-70 minutes for deep dish pie (will take less time if using a smaller pie shell) or until the edges of the filling start to puff and the middle is set, but still slightly wobbly. Let your eyes and not the timer be your judge here.

  6. Cool completely, about 3 hours. The pie will be easier to cut once completely cool or refrigerated.
  7. When the pie comes out of the oven, turn the heat up to 375F. Place the pastry cut outs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with an egg wash. Bake on the centre rack, till golden brown, between 15-20 minutes. Once cooled, decorate the pie as you desire.

To serve with Whipped Cream:

  1. Whip the cream with a hand mixer or stand mixer and whisk attachment. Start on slow speed, graduating to high speed. Once it starts to thicken, add the maple syrup. Once fully whipped and stiff peaks are achieved, top the pie, or else store in a sealed container in the fridge till needed.

  2. See blog post for more details. If baking two regular sized pies, instructions for freezing one are in the blog post.

Recipe Notes

To find my Perfect Pie Crust recipe, click here.
To partially bake, preheat the oven to 400F. Line a pie plate with the pastry, and crimp as desired. Dock the pastry with a fork and chill while the oven is warming up. Line the pie shell in the dish with parchment and fill with weights or baking beans. Bake on a rack set at the lower third of the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and return the pie shell to the oven. Bake another 5 minutes OR until just turning golden and the inside is dried out. Set aside till needed. If it puffs, just use a tea towel to push the pastry back down, creating new holes if needed for the steam to escape.

The original recipe calls for one large deep dish pie shell.  If you don't have one, use two regular pie plates, or extra ramekins for any remaining filling.  The size you use will affect baking time, start checking around 45 minutes for regular sized pie plates.  See blog post for freezing one pie if baking two.

To make the sweet potato purée: Peel and cube two larger (or 3 medium) orange sweet potatoes (or 4-5 Purple sweet potatoes) and place them in a pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium and let the potato pieces simmer till tender. A knife should slide in easily through the potato. Drain, saving 1/3 cup or so the potato water. Place the drained potato into a food processor and blitz till broken down. Add the water if needed, 1 tbsp at a time to help loosen the potato mixture and whiz till a smooth texture like pumpkin purée is achieved. You may only need 2 tbsp at the most, depending on how much potato you are actually blending up. Weigh out 680 grams (1 lb 8 oz) of the purée to use for the pie. This is about 2 1/2 cups but Please get a scale. I weigh the potatoes before peeling to make sure I have plenty to reach the final weight of the purée needed.  Better to prepare too much, you can eat the leftovers with dinner or in soup.