Sweet Potato Pie
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

You can substitute sweet potatoes (or yams) for pumpkin in any pumpkin pie recipe. This page has one delicious recipe.

First, let's clear up some confusion about how sweet potatoes and yams are related. The truth is, they are the same thing-- at least in the United States. This is because "Garnet Yams", "Jewel Yams", and "Beauregard Yams" are the most popular American varieties of sweet potato. This is different from Africa, where the word "yam" refers to a completely different kind of plant. But on this web page, we will stick to the American definition: a "yam" is a variety of sweet potato.

Second, you may be wondering how to cook sweet potatoes. The answer is: any way you want! Sweet potatoes can be boiled, roasted, or microwaved. (They can even be french-fried, but it is hard to make them crisp.) When a sweet potato is completely cooked, it will be soft all the way through. It will yield when you apply finger pressure to it, and a fork will easily pass through it. If you boil a sweet potato, it will fall out of its own skin. If you roast it or microwave it, you may notice a sugary fluid accumulate in your pan or dish. This is normal; the juice may even caramelize with further cooking.

At sea level, it takes 35 to 50 minutes to boil Number 1 size sweet potatoes. Medium potatoes take less time; Jumbo potatoes take more time, unless you cut them up before cooking. Roasting takes more time; microwaving can take less time for smaller or fewer potatoes. Microwaving is most convenient for one or two potatoes; boiling is most convenient for more potatoes.

Here is my recipe for sweet potato pie, as adapted from The Joy of Cooking, by Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker. It makes a 9-inch single crust pie:


Craig Watkins has a delicious recipe for apple pie.

Jasper's home page is "up" from here.
Copyright 1997-99 by John Paulsen,
based on a recipe in The Joy of Cooking.
Your comments are welcomed.
Last updated July 23, 1999.