I have a confession to make. I had never made or tasted a sweet potato pie until this evening. We are pumpkin people and the similarity between the two types of pie assured that the one made with sweet potatoes would be given short shrift. That changed when I paged through the October special collectors issue of Saveur magazine. It featured 101 of the 150 classic recipes that had been chosen to celebrate publication of the magazine's 150th issue. I love this magazine, and, as I read through the recipes they had chosen, I made a mental commitment to make every recipe in the special issue. My original plan was to start the effort in January, but when I saw the vibrant color of this sweet potato pie I knew I had to move up my time table and include it as part of our holiday dinner. The pie was created by Mrs.Bonner who owned a cafe in Crawfordville, Georgia. As I understand it, this was the only dessert she served and somehow in their travels, Jane and Michael Stern, authors of Roadfood.com, stumbled on the cafe and were attracted to the bright color of the pie. They sampled it and liked it so much that they begged for the recipe, and, proving yet again, that good things come to those who wait, they finally were given a copy. They attribute the color of the pie to the use of boiled, rather than baked, sweet potatoes. The fact that no spices are added to the custard probably helps as well. Those of you who love sweet desserts will be in heaven. It is delicious. This is very easy to prepare and it makes a perfect holiday dessert. I hope you will give it a try. Here's how this version of sweet potato pie is made.

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups flour

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled, plus 8 tablespoons melted and cooled

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups boiled and mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

1) Place flour, 8 tablespoons chilled butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor, and pulse until pea-size crumbles form. Add 1/4 cup ice-cold water; pulse until dough forms. Form dough into a ball and transfer to floured work surface; form into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2) Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, whisk together 8 tablespoons melted butter and salt, sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, vanilla, and eggs until smooth; set filling aside.

3) Unwrap dough and transfer to a floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll until 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan and trim excess dough from edges. Crimp edges with a fork or your fingers. Pour filling over crust and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until crust is lightly browned and filling is set, about 1 hour. Let cool completely before serving. Y

Yield: 8 servings.

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