Patti LaBelle Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
If you’ve noticed the trending topics on social media, you already know that Walmart Bakery has sold out of singer Patti LaBelle‘s infamous Sweet Potato Pie. If you don’t want to pay $60 for a pie on eBay, you can make your own!
It’s not hard, and so yummy! Who doesn’t love a good sweet potato pie?!
Plus, we include the SECRET to it’s amazing taste, which made fellow review blogger, James Wright, sing!
PHOTO: Patti LaBelle making sweet potato pie in 1999. Courtesy of Broadway Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.
Ms. LaBelle got the recipe from her best friend and hairstylist Norma Gordon Harris. This pie has a thin layer of brown sugar on the bottom crust. This causes it to blacken and add flavor, as well as keeps the crust from getting soggy. This hearty pie tastes great, like sweet potatoes. It doesn’t have hints of other flavors like pineapple or raisins that sometimes get tossed into pies.
Patti LaBelle Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Description
Make-at-home recipe for hot Patti LaBelle Sweet Potato Pie, sold out at Walmart! Don’t pay $60 on eBay, make it yourself. it’s easy and so yummy it made a review blogger sing!
Ingredients
PIE CRUST
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter-flavored vegetable shortening*, chilled
- 1/3 cup ice water
FILLING
- 3 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (Louisiana yams), scrubbed
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions
CRUST::
- Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl. Add the shortening*. Using a fork or a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized bits. Stirring with the fork, gradually add enough of the water until the mixture clumps together (you may need more or less water). Gather up the dough and press into a thick disk. If desired, wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Fold the dough in half. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan, and gently unfold the dough to fit into the pan. Using scissors or a sharp knife, trim the dough to a 1-inch overhang. Fold the dough under itself so the edge of the fold is flush with the edge of the pan. Flute the dough around the edge of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while making the filling.
FILLING:
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the sweet potatoes and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes. Drain and run under cold water until cool enough to handle. Peel the sweet potatoes and place in a medium bowl.
- Mash with an electric mixer on medium speed until very smooth. Measure 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes, keeping any extra for another use, and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Uncover the pie shell and brush the interior with some of the melted butter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the brown sugar over the bottom of the pie shell. Bake until the pie dough is set and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. If the pie shell puffs, do not prick it.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, the remaining melted butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar, the granulated sugar, eggs, half-and-half, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spread into the partially baked pie shell, smoothing the top.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until a knife inserted in the center of the filling comes out clean, about 1 ½ hours. Cool completely on a wire cake rack. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve with whipped cream.
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Reprinted from “LaBelle Cuisine.” Copyright © 1999 by Patti LaBelle with Laura B. Randolph. Published by Broadway Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.
* Always use shortening! If you want a tender, flaky pie crust, you have to use shortening. Some cooks make their dough with butter because they like the flavor, but it bakes into a crumbly crust—and with most pie lovers, flaky is the name of the game. My solution is to use butter-flavored Crisco. Like biscuits, pie crust shouldn’t be overworked. Handle with care. The chilled shortening and ice water will also help pie crust stay nice and flaky. – Patti LaBelle
