Cakegirl's Kitchen: Mini Sweet Potato Pies (with Brandy Whipped Cream)

Sweet potatoes are one of my all time favorite foods. Considering myself a southerner now, I guess there are some things I take for granted - like Sweet Potato Pie. When a friend asked me for a suggestion of what her contribution to her family's annual Christmas brunch should be, I said "How about sweet potato pie?" She told me she had never had sweet potato pie. {CLUTCH THE PEARLS} She also told me that her family leans toward bite sized items that they set up and nibble on throughout the day. I had to help her out... Here is the recipe I gave her:

3 cups warm mashed sweet potatoes - I prefer to bake the potatoes. Place the potatoes on a cookie sheet or foil and bake for about 45 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. I tend to overbake (almost burn) the potatoes because I find the longer they cook, the sweeter they become.

3 eggs

3/4 cup - 1 cup brown sugar - this will really depend on how sweet the potatoes are, so start with 3/4 cup sugar. If you feel like you need more sugar, you can add more brown sugar or white sugar. (just make it as sweet as you want)

3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract - since you are going to make brandy whipped cream, go ahead and use 2 tsp brandy instead of vanilla if you want.

Peel sweet potatoes while they are still hot, then mix with hand mixer

For those of you who are not sweet potato aficionados, let me share a secret. The WORST Sweet Potato pie is one that is stringy (full of the tiny strings that are visible in sweet potatoes). As a young wannabe chef, my mother taught me a great trick to rid your potatoes of those strings. Use a regular hand mixture to initially mash up the sweet potatoes. You can see in the picture above the strings on the beaters. Run your finger along the beater to see what I am referring to. DO NOT put those strings back into your mashed sweet potatoes. Rinse the beaters and start mixing again with clean beaters. Yes, you will feel like you are wasting a bit of valuable sweet potato, but it's worth it to have a smooth pie!!

Beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and spices into the mashed potatoes. Add the cream and stir well. (if you feel you need more spices, add more... use your judgement)

I will admit. For this recipe, I cheated and used refrigerated pie crust. {No harm, No foul}

Roll the pie crust out so that it is pretty thin (about 1/4 inch thick). Use a circle cookie cutter big enough for the circle to line a mini cupcake pan. If you are using a non stick pan, you should be ok just putting the pie crust in the pan. If it is not a nonstick pan, spray very lightly with nonstick cooking spray like PAM.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon the potato mixture into pie crusts and if any of the mixture drips on the exposed crust, wipe it off or it will burn the crust. Since these are so small, check them at about 25 minutes. Pies may puff up, but don't worry about that, they will flatten when done. keep an eye on the exposed crust. Use that as your judge of if the pies are done. Remove pies when the crust in nicely browned.

Let pies cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from and allow to continue to cool on a wire rack.

Whip together the whipped cream and top the pies right before you get ready to serve them.

A tip for making whipped cream. place the beaters and the (metal) bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before whipping the cream. It helps when everything is cold (the bowl, the beaters, and the cream)

I got this whipped cream recipe from Bon Appetit - It is easy and delicious.
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons brandy
1 1/2 tablespoons sugarUsing an electric mixer, beat whipping cream, brandy, and sugar in large bowl until soft peaks form. cover and chill up to 6 hours.