Page 129 - United States of Pie

Sweet Potato Meringue Pie

Much like sweet tea, fried chicken, and hush puppies, sweet
potato pie is a culinary tradition in the South. Think of the sweet
potato pie—with its ruddy color, substantial starchy filling, and
seasoning of warm spices—as the South’s answer to the North’s
pumpkin pie. A careless diner might even confuse the two. But the

sweet potato pie, a crowning finale to any Southern feast, is
definitely a dessert that stands on its own—especially when topped
with marshmallow-like meringue. Of course the meringue in this
recipe serves no purpose other than culinary embellishment. Looking
through the sweet potato pie recipes in my cookbooks, I saw that
there was an even split between the meringue-lovers and the
naysayers. I guess you can count me as one of the lovers. The

meringue is buoyant and the filling is silky—sounds like a pretty good
match to me.

½ recipe Standard Pie Dough or Leaf Lard Pie Dough

For the filling
2 cups mashed sweet potato (see Note)
¾ cup whole milk
3 large eggs, beaten

½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of kosher salt

For the meringue
3 large egg whites, at room temperature