Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie

A few weeks ago, when I posted the recipe for speculoos pie (made with speculoos cookie butter), my friend, the cookbook author and Zenchilada editor Ronni Lundy, shared a little secret of culinary genius. She said that she often puts the cookie butter on a sweet potato while it's still warm, "melted and married in a beautiful, beautiful party." Woah. And as if that wasn't enough to ruin me, she added, "maybe you can do a sweet potato speculoos pie?"

A completely genius pairing, I tell ya-- like the chocolate peanut butter pretzel tart, a wild combination. Of course the two are perfectly suited, as the spices in speculoos (for more about the cookie and the butter read here) being largely the same as those often used in sweet potato pie. With the brilliant orange of the "yams" and the deep brown of the speculoos, I thought a swirl effect was in the cards, and I chose to use the bright Garnet yams for their amped up color. I found this recipe for Nutella swirled pumpkin pie (from Sally's Baking Addiction) to work from and we were off-- sweet potato and speculoos were joined in wholy pie form at last.

Since the idea came from Ms. Lundy (and because she requested republishing dibs), I'm giving her name to this swirled & spiced classic of a dessert. Though I added my filling to a gingersnap crust this time, a normal butter pie crust would be just dandy.



Ronni's Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction's Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
For crust:
1 1/2 c. gingersnaps graham cracker crumbs
4 Tblsp. unsalted butter
1 Tblsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

For filling:
3 large eggs
2 c. (15 oz.) fresh sweet potato purée (Garnet yams are best for taste and color)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. Speculoos cookie butter

Directions
For crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour gingersnap or graham cracker crumbs in a bowl and add melted butter, sugar, and salt, stirring until well mixed. 

2. Pat the buttery crumbs into a 9-inch pie pan, pressing mixture into the bottom and sides to form a pie crust. Place in oven and bake until crust is lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Place on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature before adding the filling.

For filling:
1. Leave oven at 350 degrees F. In a large bowl or bowl of a standing mixer, whisk eggs lightly. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the Speculoos cookie butter, and mix well to combine. Reserve 1/2 c. of the mixture and pour the rest into the pie crust. 

2. Combine the reserved 1/2 c. of pie filling with the cookie butter. Ladle spoonfulls of it onto the sweet potato filling and use a butter knife to swirl the cookie butter mixture with the sweet potato mixture.

3. Bake pie for 40-45 minutes until filling is well set. Let cool and serve chilled or at room temperature with bourbon whipped cream or cinnamon bourbon ice cream. Enjoy!

I LOVE sweet potato pie, and I've never had one quite like this before. The speculoos contributes spice while also adding a smooth, rich texture. I enjoyed my slice with cinnamon-bourbon ice cream from local artisanal ice cream producer Ice Cream Jubilee--a perfect pairing times two.