Story and Photography by: Leo Danzig for PopSugar.com | Photography courtesy of: Patti LaBelle/Facebook
(Above) Be sure to pick up your Patti Pie, Patti Cobbler, Patti Cake and Patti Pudding from Walmart for your holiday gatherings!
Patti LaBelle upgrades her classic sweet potato pie with new tricks in the recently released Desserts LaBelle: Soulful Sweets to Sing About ($17). Don’t miss out on cooking those yams in the microwave. Plus, her homemade dough is worth the extra effort. One unexpected ingredient in particular gives it its signature flakiness.
Sweet Potato Pie With Patti’s Favorite Pie Dough
From Desserts LaBelle: Soulful Sweets to Sing About by Patti LaBelle
Notes from Patti
[S]weet potato pie is in my blood. Any and every sweet potato pie I make is compared to the OG: Chubby’s version, which was also the inspiration behind my dear friend Norma’s recipe. (It’s in my first cookbook, LaBelle Cuisine. If you don’t have the book, last time I checked the recipe was also online.) Why I can’t leave a good thing alone, I don’t know. This is my current rendition, which starts with Chubby’s pie and throws in some new tricks, too. If you have been boiling sweet potatoes for your pie, try the microwave method here. It is a lot quicker.Patti’s Pointers: *If you forgot to chill the shortening beforehand, do not panic. Just put the shortening, cut up into tablespoon-sized chunks, on a plate or piece of aluminum foil, and stick it in the freezer. It will be properly chilled in about 15 minutes. (I know some pie-making fanatics who keep their shortening in the refrigerator so it’s always cold and ready for making pie dough, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Sometimes, the shortening will absorb moisture from the refrigerator’s humidity, and it’s hard to gauge how much water to add to the dough.)
**Why evaporated milk? Even if a farmhouse didn’t have a refrigerator, country folks usually had canned evaporated milk in the kitchen cupboard. This ingredient is rich and sweet because the excess water has been removed (evapo- rated) before canning.
INGREDIENTS
For the pie dough (makes one 9-inch pie crust):
1 1⁄2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup chilled butter-flavored vegetable shortening*
1⁄2 cup ice water, as needed
For the filling:
2 1⁄2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (yams), about 5 medium, scrubbed but unpeeled
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup evaporated milk**
To read the full recipe, visit www.popsugar.com.
