I don’t know how this recipe was collected originally, as its source passed on in 1955. Maybe the recipe was published in my long-ago subscription to Gourmet magazine. At any rate, it is pretty cool to have the bona fide sweet-potato pie recipe of Mary McLeod Bethune, a bona fide civil rights leader.
9 medium sweet potatoes or yams, about 4 pounds, scrubbed
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs, well beaten
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 unbaked, 9" single crust pastry
Boil sweet potatoes until tender. When cool enough to handle, peel them and mash well.
Heat oven to 350°.
Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Beat in sweet potatoes until well mixed. Beat in eggs. Beat in milk and vanilla slowly.
Spoon into the three unbaked pie shells, using about 4 cups filling per shell.
Bake for 50 – 60 min. or until set. Cool to room temperature before serving. Store in refrigerator
Recipes out of the Blond Box 