I made sweet-potato pies from celebrity chefs Trisha Yearwood, Carla Hall, and Alton Brown.Paige Bennett
I made sweet-potato pies using recipes from chefs Trisha Yearwood, Carla Hall, and Alton Brown.
Yearwood's pie was simple yet a bit watery and Brown's fell apart as I ate it.
Hall had the best recipe, although her instructions called for a homemade pie crust.
I made three different sweet-potato pie recipes from Carla Hall, Trisha Yearwood, and Alton Brown to see how they would compare. Each varied in difficulty, as some used premade pie crusts and one required handmaking each component.Here's how each sweet-potato pie stacked up.Before I made Hall's pie, I needed to prepare the dough.I used Carla Hall's pie-dough recipe.Paige BennettThough the other recipes I tested called for premade pie dough or canned sweet potato, Hall's version of the pie didn't come with shortcuts.Per the recipe's instructions, I roasted 2 pounds of sweet potatoes for nearly two hours and then scooped out the filling of each to make the custardy pie.The recipe also called for making pie dough from scratch using sugar, salt, all-purpose flour, and unsalted butter. I dissolved the sugar and salt in hot water, let the mixture cool, and then combined it with cold, cubed butter and flour.Once I formed the dough, I chilled it until it was firm. Making the dough was a little time-consuming, but overall, it was one of the easiest homemade pie crusts I've made.Once the dough was done, I gathered the rest of my ingredients.Aside from the mashed sweet potatoes and pie dough, Hall's recipe called for simple ingredients.Paige BennettHall's recipe called for eggs, evaporated milk, light brown sugar, butter, salt, and an assortment of spices.Most of the ingredients were simple except for the hand-mashed sweet potatoes and homemade pie dough. Hall's pie filling was very smooth.The pie filling had plenty of aromatic spices.Paige BennettTo make the filling, I mixed the mashed sweet potatoes with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, salt, butter, brown sugar, and evaporated milk until the mixture was smooth.Then, I whisked in the eggs and the filling was complete.Next, I shaped my dough.The homemade pie dough looked almost perfect before it was baked.Paige BennettI rolled out the pie dough and placed it in my baking dish, pinching the edges to form a uniform crust.I was concerned when the bottom of the crust became cracked.I was worried the crack would impact the structural integrity of the pie.Paige BennettThough the pie crust rolled out easily and looked flawless, things changed once I put the pie tin in the freezer.I noticed the pie had cracks along the bottom. I tried to close them by gently pushing the dough around those areas but they were still there even after a blind bake. I had to hope the filling would be thick enough to not seep through the bottom of the crust.I added the filling and baked the pie at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Per the recipe's instructions, I then reduced the temperature to 350 degrees and baked the pie for about 40 more minutes.In the end, Hall's dessert was delicious and reminded me of pumpkin pie.The finished pie held up well.Paige BennettAfter about five hours of prepping, baking, and cooling, my pie was ready to eat.It had a great structure, as the crust was durable even with the cracks I was so worried about. The filling held together well, and nothing fell apart as I ate. I thought the crust was a little bland on its own, so I probably won't nibble on this part of the pie by itself. But when eating the crust and filling together, this pie was excellent.The filling was sweet but not overly so, and the spices subtly came through.Yearwood had the simplest sweet-potato pie recipe.I opted for premade dough and canned pumpkin.Paige BennettI don't mind having some easy recipes in my back pocket so I was excited to find that Yearwood's sweet-potato pie was made with simple ingredients but didn't skimp on special touches, like a sugary crust.Yearwood's recipe called for either canned or roasted and peeled sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and homemade or store-bought pie crust.Because the other two recipes I tested called for roasted and steamed potatoes, I decided to use a canned version here. I also opted for a store-bought crust.Yearwood's filling came together quickly.I whisked the pie filling together in a mixer.Paige BennettUsing canned sweet potatoes and store-bought crust made this recipe incredibly quick.I just had to combine the ingredients in an electric mixer, pour the filling into the frozen pie crust, and add sugar on top. Per the recipe's instructions, I let the pie stand for 15 minutes so the sugar could fully melt before baking.A sugar-crust topping seemed to be Yearwood's secret weapon.The sugar was meant to form a crust on top of the pie.Paige BennettThe only problem I ran into was the low oven temperature, 300 degrees. The recipe said the pie only needed to bake for about one hour, but when I checked on it, the filling was still too wet and the crust was nowhere near browned. After about one hour and 40 minutes in the oven, the pie was ready. The sugar on top formed a delicate, delicious-looking crust over the filling.Yearwood's pie tasted good, but the texture wasn't perfect.I wished the pie had a firmer filling.Paige BennettYearwood's pie was sweeter than the others, but I could still taste the sweet potato and the spices. The only issue was that the filling was a little bit watery for me. The pie still held together well but I wished the filling was slightly firmer.In the future, I'd try baking this pie at 325 or even 350 degrees and extend the baking time to see if it helps improve the texture.I looked forward to the maple-pecan topping on Brown's sweet-potato pie.Alton Brown's recipe was the only one that called for yogurt.Paige BennettBrown's sweet-potato pie combined a from-scratch sweet-potato mash and a premade, frozen pie crust. The filling itself called for plain yogurt, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg yolks, and salt.I was most looking forward to the topping, which consisted of chopped, toasted pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup. I figured the maple syrup and pecans would perfectly complement the sweet-potato pie.I used a makeshift steamer and prepared my sweet potatoes.I had to weigh my potatoes out before I got started.Paige BennettI started by peeling and cubing a very specific 1 pound and 3 ounces of sweet potatoes, which needed to be steamed for the filling.I don't have a steamer basket, so I made do with a soup pot that had an inner straining basket that I propped up above the water in the pot with some crumpled aluminum foil.I let the potatoes steam until they were really soft, which took about 30 minutes, and then put them in the fridge to cool.The filling looked similar to the others, despite having yogurt in it.I was curious to see how the yogurt would impact the texture and flavor of the filling.Paige BennettNext, I combined the sweet potatoes with the other ingredients, which included a lot of plain yogurt and five large egg yolks.I tried to make Brown's pie and topping look as perfect as possible before baking.I was really excited to see how the topping would taste.Paige BennettThen, I poured the filling into the pie crust and added the highly anticipated topping.I baked the pie at 350 degrees for about an hour.Brown's pie tasted too strongly of yogurt for me, and it didn't maintain its shape.Alton Brown's pie fell apart as I ate it.Paige BennettThough I let the pie cool in the fridge before serving, the crust didn't hold up. The instability wasn't a huge deal to me — obviously, I like it when the pie looks neat, but I think flavor is the most important part. Unfortunately, Brown's pie missed the mark for me. Despite using a small amount of plain yogurt, it was the strongest flavor in the filling. I thought the pie was too tangy and earthy, and I didn't get any sweetness or spice.I like many of Brown's dessert recipes but don't think I'd try this one again.Though it took the longest to make, Hall's pie was well worth my time.Carla Hall's pie was my winner.Paige BennettThough I enjoyed Yearwood's sweet-potato pie and the crispy pecan topping on Brown's version, Hall's dessert was my favorite. Even my partner, who has pretty discerning tastes (my polite way to say he can be a bit picky), said he loved Hall's pie.The only thing I might add to Hall's pie is the sugar-topping trick I picked up from Yearwood. I think a slightly crisp, sugary topping on the sweet-potato pie I made using Hall's recipe would make it even more delicious.This story was originally published on October 24, 2023, and most recently updated on October 29, 2024.
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