Augusta, Georgia is one of three cities between Atlanta and the Atlantic Ocean that Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman left untouched during The Civil War. For this, Augustans have taken eternal umbrage against the general, since Sherman deemed the city not worth his time, strategically. Another city he spared is Savannah, today one of the few showcases of antebellum architecture in the Deep South. This makes it a time capsule of Southern memory, that famous power of remembrance characteristic of the region’s writers, politicians and confidence men.
Cheryl and Griffith Day, who own Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah and published The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, believe such backward-gazing belongs to the world of baking, too. For most Southerners, chess pie likely has as much cachet as Flannery O’Connor. The Days make this clear in their modest little cookbook, full of straightforward recipes that yield workmanlike results.
At the front of the book, there’s some agreeable reminiscing about the old days and, later, more practical advice for baking successfully, including a list of essential equipment and spices to keep in the kitchen. Scattered throughout the book are short profile pages on unusual ingredients like sorghum. At Sauce, August is the month of pie, so I went with that eternal flame of Southern confectioneries: sweet potato pie.
The recipe is punctuated by several lengthy periods of baking, so it’s easy to multitask. While the sweet potatoes were baking I whipped up the crust mix and pressed it into the pan, then employed a tip mentioned in our August issue – dried beans as pie weights. Lay a sheet of foil over the top and add the beans to prebake the crust without it bubbling.
After 50 minutes in the oven, the sweet potatoes easily came apart with a fork. Leave them in the oven for an entire hour – in hindsight, they would have been even easier to work with. The sweet potato filling can be mixed and prepared while the crust is prebaking. After removing the crust from the oven, use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the crust.
This was about the time my hand mixer went on the fritz, and whisking by hand quickly became time-consuming. After combining the dry and wet ingredients, it’s probably wise to pulse them in a blender or food processor to avoid chunks of sweet potato in the final product. And while blackstrap molasses imparts a savoriness to the pie, it gives it a most unsavory color. This is a major drawback to the recipe; by the end, I missed the rich orange color of the sweet potatoes. The deep, caramelized flavor dimension of the molasses isn’t worth the displeasing visuals.
Again hobbled without a mixer, I came across an ingenious solution for making whipped cream: Reduce the ingredients by half and add them to a mason jar, along with a wine cork. (A splash of bourbon or Gran Marnier will give the cream a bit more depth.) Shake vigorously until the cream reaches the desired texture or until soft peaks form inside the jar. While not quite as fluffy, it works in a pinch.
Sweet Potato Pie 8 to 10 servings
1½ lbs. sweet potatoes (1 to 2 sweet potatoes), or 2 cups canned sweet potato puree
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. sorghum or blackstrap molasses
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground mace
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
1 recipe Shortcut Pie Crust made with brown sugar, prebaked (recipe follows)
1 recipe Fresh Whipped Cream (recipe follows, optional)
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste (optional)
• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees if using whole sweet potatoes, or to 350 degrees if using canned sweet potatoes.
• If using whole sweet potatoes, wrap them in foil and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until fork-tender. Set aside to cool slightly. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Unwrap the sweet potatoes and peel them. Measure out 2 cups of the potatoes, put them in a medium bowl, and mash with a fork until smooth. Or, if using canned sweet potatoes, put them in a medium bowl.
• Add the heavy cream, eggs and sorghum or molasses to the sweet potatoes and whisk until fully incorporated.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, flour, cardamom, cloves, mace, ginger and salt. Add the sweet potato mixture and stir until smooth.
• Pour the filling into the prebaked piecrust and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the filling is firm around the edges but still jiggles slightly in the center when you shake it; the filling will continue to firm up as it cools. Let cool completely.
• Pile the whipped cream on top of the pie with a spatula and sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg, if desired. The pie is best served the same day, but it can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Shortcut Pie Crust Makes 1 9-inch pie crust
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar or packed light brown sugar
½ tsp. fine sea salt
11 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Slowly drizzle in the butter and stir with a fork until the mixture looks moist and crumbly.
• Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish. You can crimp the edges decoratively or leave them rustic.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the pie shell with aluminum foil or parchment and fill with dried beans or pie weights.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before filling.
Fresh Whipped Cream Makes about 3 cups
2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), whip the cream on medium speed until it starts to thicken. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until the cream holds nice soft peaks.
What twist have you added to your go-to dish from back in the day to keep it fresh? Tell us about it in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.
This article appears in August 2014.