Recipe: Sweet potato pie with pecan streusel

Total Time: About 1 hour with pie crust pre-made and sweet potatoes cooked

Servings: 8

Note: This is adapted from “Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking” (University of North Carolina Press, 1985).

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature, divided

1 cup light brown sugar, divided

1 cup cooked, riced sweet potatoes (1 to 2 potatoes; baked are best)

3 eggs, separated

3/4cup heavy cream

1/4teaspoon kosher salt

1/2teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2teaspoon ground ginger

1/4teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4teaspoon ground cloves

1/4cup bourbon

1 (9-inch) pie crust, partially baked

1/4cup flour

1/4cup chopped pecans

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter with three-fourths cup brown sugar until light. Beat in the sweet potatoes, then the egg yolks and cream. Add the salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and mix well. Beat in the bourbon.

3. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Add one-quarter of the whites to the sweet potato mixture and stir in well. Gently fold in the remaining whites. Pour into the pie crust.

4. Combine the remaining butter, the remaining one-fourth cup brown sugar, flour and pecans and beat until well mixed. Crumble the mixture evenly over the top of the filled pie.

5. Bake in the center of the oven until the top is golden brown and the filling is set, about 40 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Each serving: 526 calories; 5 grams protein; 45 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 35 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 157 mg. cholesterol; 208 mg. sodium.