Coconut Sweet Potato Pie With Spiced Crust Recipes

COCONUT-CRUSTED SWEET POTATO PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F Mix coconut and butter in a bowl. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove crust from the oven and increase heat to 350°F.
• In a food processor, combine mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, tofu, maple syrup, and spices. Puree until smooth. Pour mixture into the coconut crust and bake until the top is dry, about 30 minutes. Check to see if it's ready by inserting a knife into center of pie. If it doesn't come out clean, bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on a rack; garnish with crystallized ginger when cool, if desired.

SWEET POTATO PIE WITH CANDIED PECANS AND COCONUT

Steps:

• For the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor until combined. Add half of the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal. Add the remaining butter and continue pulsing until no pieces are larger than peas. Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse until combined. Add just enough of the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water, a little at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together and holds its shape when squeezed. Turn the dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, gather into a disc and wrap well. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to an 11-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges and refrigerate the dough until chilled, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust several times with the tines of a fork. Fit a piece of aluminum foil over the crust and fill the foil with pie weights or dry beans. Bake until the edges of the crust are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, return the crust to the oven and continue to bake until the bottom of the crust is lightly golden and no longer shiny, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool completely.
• For the filling: While the crust cools, use a fork to prick the yams all over. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and roast with the oven still at 350 degrees F until very soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel and mash until very smooth; you should have about 2 cups. Transfer the mash to a medium bowl and add the cream, brown sugar, vanilla, allspice, ginger, salt and eggs. Whisk just until smooth. Gently tap the bottom of the bowl a few times to release any air bubbles.
• Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake until the center of the pie is set and no longer shiny, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes; if the edges of the crust brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool.
• For the topping: Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, vanilla and salt, stirring until the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in the pecans and cook until the nuts are toasted and have absorbed most of the buttery sugar mixture, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the coconut. Spoon over the pie and press gently to adhere to the filling. Let stand at least 20 minutes to cool. Serve the pie with whipped cream if desired.

COCONUT-SWEET POTATO PIE WITH SPICED CRUST

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan, add water to cover by about an inch, and bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the potatoes are very tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, then rice the potatoes or run them through a food mill.
• While the potatoes cook, put the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse several times until they are finely ground. Add the shredded coconut, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon each of the ginger and cinnamon, and pulse once or twice; add the melted butter and pulse just to combine. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie dish and bake for about 7 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and cool.
• In a food processor, combine the eggs with the remaining sugar, ginger and cinnamon, along with the nutmeg, cloves and salt; pulse until well combined. Add the coconut milk and pulse to combine, then add the sweet potatoes and pulse until just smooth.
• Put the pie plate on a baking sheet. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the crust and bake until the mixture is set on top but still quite moist, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.