Friday, November 19, 2010

Sweet Potato Pie and Pretzels

Today Brianna and I had a nice time in the kitchen. She made sweet potato pie and I made soft baked pretzels. YUM.

We did not get pictures of every step, but we got enough I think?

First, the crust. I got unbleached white flour especially for Brianna ... it's the easiest to use for crusts. Our grinder grinds the wheat berries so course and the first crust she ever tried to make did not work at all. I can get it to work fine, but for someone just starting, it might be nicer to start with unbleached white flour. As you can see, her crust turned out well :)



The filling ... I'm not sure what all I told her to put in there, but I THINK it was 6c mashed sweet potatoes, 3 eggs, 1/2c brown sugar, 1t cinnamon, 1/2t nutmeg, 1t vanilla and 1/4c butter, melted. Blend it all together and spread into the crusts.

She decided to use the extra crust dough to make decorations for the tops ...

Ready to bake ... 425 for 15 minutes and 300 till done (over 50 minutes). The filling will be firm and the crust will be golden brown.
All done!


Guess what we are having for dessert tonight ...

Brianna thought to take pictures of the pretzels a little too late, so you'll have to use your imagination for the first few steps. I used my whole wheat bread recipe; I followed all the steps until the shaping of the loaves. Instead I rolled it out to about a 10" x 12" rectangle and cut into 12 - 12" long strips. Roll them out a little more with your hands, shape and put on a greased cookie sheet. Next, bake them in a preheated oven set to 475 for 4 minutes. Once done, have ready a pot of boiling water with 2T of salt added. Lower 3 or 4 at a time into the pot, boil for 2 minutes, turning once in between. Remove with a slotted spoon. Set on a towel for a minute or so to drain, and then put back onto a well greased cookie sheet.



Brush with an egg white wash - one egg white and 1T water.

Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes ... till golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. I brushed it with melted butter before taking it off the cookie sheet.
Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Oh, my! You do eat beautifully! I'll have to try the pretzels. And the pie is awesome. Love the topping designs. Sweet potato pie was the first I made for my husband. We hardly knew each other, but he impressed me so when I heard him in Bible study. I heard him say something about sweet potatoes, so that's what I made to take to the dinner. I really couldn't afford the pecans for the crust, but I was so swept away by Hubs that I didn't care. Blessings, Liz

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  2. Hi Brianna!
    Those pies looked GREAT!!! The leaf designs were so pretty! I bet that they were really yummy too! :)
    Thanks for sharing the recipe and pictures.
    -Joanne, those pretzels looked fabulous as well!-
    Have a great day in the Lord!
    Your Friend,
    Ashley

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  3. Hello Ashley - sorry I never responded to you. Brianna said, "thank you" and yes, they were very good pies. She plans to make more soon because she missed one of the widows ... and this particular one has never had a sweet potato pie.

    If you'd like to be Brianna's penpal, she'd enjoy that. She asked if I could get your address. If so, just send it in an email.

    Love, js

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  4. Gorgeous pies, Brianna! You are a very creative baker!

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