Over the course of about three years I perfected this pie. To my taste, it’s not too sweet, nor is any flavor overpowering. The sorghum gives it an earthy sweetness, the ginger some mild bite, and the bourbon vanilla extract plays a subtle yet important supporting role for the star, the sweet potatoes.

Oddly, no other sweet potato pie recipe I’ve found calls for salt. It was the last thing I added to the recipe, and it absolutely ties all the flavors together perfectly. The ginger goes great with the graham cracker crust. When making fresh whipped cream, throw in some of that bourbon vanilla extract.

• 2-3 sweet potatoes (1.25-1.5 lbs raw)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sorghum (not molasses)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (preferably homemade with bourbon)*
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 9″ graham cracker pie crust

Bake sweet potatoes at 425* for one hour. Turn off heat and let sweet potatoes remain in oven for 40-50 minutes until tender. Preheat oven to 350*. Remove sweet potato skins and place in large mixing bowl. Add butter and mix. Add sorghum, brown sugar, cream, eggs, bourbon vanilla extract, spices and salt. Mix until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350* for one hour. Let cool and fall. Serve warm with fresh whipped cream.

*If you don’t have bourbon vanilla extract, add 1/4 tsp bourbon with 3/4 tsp regular vanilla extract