Fall Desserts — MawMaw’s Sweet Potato Pie and the Birthday That Feels Like Home

MawMaw Shirley's seventy-third birthday this week, October twenty-second, and we went to Baker for the party. When I say party I mean it the Robinson way: not a formal event, not a party in the sense of decorations and party hats, but a gathering of the family in MawMaw's kitchen and living room with more food than we could possibly eat and MawMaw at the center of it, cooking, because MawMaw's birthday is not a day off from cooking, it is the day when MawMaw cooks everything she loves for the people she loves.

She made gumbo, of course. Dark roux, andouille, okra, crab, four hours in the cast iron pot. She started it at nine in the morning and we arrived at noon and the house already smelled like the platonic ideal of itself. I have a memory of being very small and walking into that smell for the first time, the warmth and depth of it, and feeling like I was walking into safety. That smell has not changed in thirteen years. I do not expect it to change.

She also made her sweet potato pie, which won the church bake-off six years running and which is the standard by which all sweet potato pies are measured in this family. The filling is custard-smooth and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and something else she adds that she calls judgment, meaning she adds it until it feels right. I have been trying to identify it for years. This year, sitting very close to the pie while she made it, I think it might be a small amount of orange zest. I am not telling anyone this until I can confirm it.

The gumbo was perfect, as it always is. Seventy-three years old and she still stirs the roux for thirty-five minutes without sitting down. We sang happy birthday and she waved it off and told us to eat before it got cold. We ate. It was the best meal of the year.

I have been trying to reverse-engineer MawMaw’s sweet potato pie for years, and after sitting close enough this October to catch a glimpse of what “judgment” might actually mean, I wanted to go home and bake one myself — not to replace hers, which is impossible, but to carry that birthday warmth into my own kitchen for a little longer. This is the fall dessert I landed on: a custard-smooth sweet potato pie spiced the way hers smells, with cinnamon and nutmeg and a quiet brightness underneath that I am now fairly confident is orange zest. It is not the same as hers. Nothing is. But it is the closest I have come.

Fall Desserts: Sweet Potato Pie

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 2 cups mashed sweet potato (from about 2 medium sweet potatoes, roasted and peeled)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest (optional, but recommended)

Instructions

1. Roast the sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pierce the sweet potatoes several times with a fork and roast directly on the oven rack for 45–55 minutes, until completely tender. Let cool, then peel and mash until smooth. Measure out 2 cups.
2. Reduce oven temperature. Lower the oven to 350°F. Fit the pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges. Set aside.
3. Make the filling. In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato and sugar, stirring until well mixed. Add the melted butter and stir to incorporate. Mix in the eggs, milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and uniform.
4. Add the spices. Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and orange zest if using. Taste the filling and adjust spices as your judgment directs — more cinnamon for warmth, a little more zest for brightness.
5. Fill and bake. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake at 350°F for 50–55 minutes, until the filling is set at the edges but has a very slight jiggle at the center. A toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge should come out clean.
6. Cool completely. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool for at least 2 hours before slicing. The filling will continue to set as it cools. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled, with or without whipped cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 380 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Carbs: 49g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 210mg