I'm a pumpkin pie lover but I'm on the West Coast. I think the preference for one or the other might be somewhat regional. I have tried sweet potato pie and was really looking forward to it but it didn't deliver for me! And I love sweet potatoes. I think it's that expectancy thing, I was seeing pumpkin pie because they look alike. My mouth told me differently. It was okay. I'm sure the recipe had something to do with it, too.

Sweet potato! I always make both since my husband loves pumpkin but I have a recipe for sweet potato spice rack pie that's killer. I like to add a healthy dollop of bourbon to the pie as well. Bake the taters until they ooze, cool, peel & run them through the food processor. Not a string to be found.

Nina

Okay Nina, time to pony up that recipe! Any dessert with bourbon in it has my name all over it.

It's pumpkin pie here. I've had sweet potato pie but I love, love pumpkin pie.

Linda P

Barnmom- I'm a firm believer that bourbon can improve just about anything (whether applied directy to the food, or to the individual). I'll post the recipe tomorrow, I've got it safe at home (from the El Paso Chile Company cookbook- there isn't a bad, or healthy, recipe in that thing). Bourbon just lends itself to fall baking!

Nina

Sweet potato ... :)

Doesn't matter. As long as it's properly spiced (lots of cinnamon and nutmeg) I'll go into a feeding frenzy on either one!

Sweet potato is my favorite!

Here it's definitely pumpkin pie, I also use the Libby's recipe and have for years. Sweet potatoes are served as a side dish, covered with brown sugar and marshmallows, LOL.

Last year I made a pumpkin cheesecake and barely escaped my family's wrath. (grin) This year it's been made clear to me that there WILL be pumpkin pie.

Annie

I make both. And I just mash the baked SwTaters well..

Nina, I'll look forward to a read of that recipe as well!
Hubby would love it with a bit of Jim Beam in it..

Annie, I wouldn't get away with pumpkin cheesecake, either. There WILL be pie (Though I'm not entirely sure I'll be making it from scratch, and a sweet potato casserole. Alice WANTS the one with the marshmallows.

Gotta be punkin pie for Thanksgiving at our house,as well as mince pie. And pecan pie. No such thing as too much pie. Sue

I much prefer pumpkin - I really don't like sweet potatoes and generally never eat them.

I use fresh ginger when I make pumpkin pie, and it really improves the flavor dramatically. Ginger is my favorite spice to have with pumpkin. I generally decrease the amount of cinnamon, but I do like clove with it also.

However, this year I'm making lime pies because I have limes, and I will be doing the same at Christmas.

Lars

I see a regional divide here. LOL!

Oddly enough, neither was tradtional with our family. We had sweet potatoes as a side dish, and seldom pumpkin anything. We usually had pecan, egg (not as bad as it sounds), and apple pies, fruitcake and either coconut, bourbon or Lane cake.

But I like both pumpkin and sweet potoato pie. And I really like pumpkin cheesecake!

Here in Lakeland we like sweet potatoes baked. I use the same amount of sweet potatoes in place of pumpkin to make the sweet potato pie. I use the same recipe for both, I just switch the pumpkin with the sweet potatoes to make a sweet potato pie. I am going to have both at this Thanksgiving day dinner. It will not last long with my hubby, oldest son and myself chowing down on them.

Love pumpkin pie, but make Acorn or Butternut squash pies too. Figures........I can't pick from the available choices......story of my life! (grin)

Deanna

Annie, thank you for clearing up the proper method of sweet potato preparation!

I know many like sweet potato or both, I like my sweet potatoes as a side and pumpkin for the pie (or cheesecake, or cake, or bars, or bread, or cookies, or...I like pumpkin!)

I think for a work function particularly I'd go with pumpkin though.

Sweet potato pie, absolutely no question. When I was a small child we dwelt in the dark, and ate pumpkin pie, not knowing any better.

But then we moved to Cincinnati, and kind cooks took my mother in hand and taught her the ways of sweet potato pie. Whiles she has continued to ascend as a cook, we have all revelled in the spiritual purity and light of sweet potato pie ever since. No more of the slab o'pumpkin for us!

In all seriousness, I find the tastes have some similarities, but the texture of sweet potato pie is much lighter and creamier than pumpkin, which just seems too dense, too grainy for me.

I prefer Sweet Potate Pie. It seems lighter and smoother but we have a brand new DIL and she loves Pumpkin so I'll make Pumpkin to butter her up. LOL She's worth it.

beanthere- you could be right...it could be regional. The first time I had ever tasted sweet potato pie was courtesy of a woman from the south. One of the enterprising guys at work had a mother who had a little side business making pies. He brought some into work for everyone to taste & as a way to drum up more business. The sweet potato was divine & I promptly decided that I had to make some of my own. Enter this recipe, courtesy of the El Paso Chile Company's Texas Border Cookbook:

Sweet Potato Spice Rack Pie

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/4 lbs total)
3 eggs
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground corriander
3/4 c whipping cream
1/2 c half & half
3 tbs bourbon
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9" pie shell, chilled (I use Oronoque- oh the shame of it!)

preheat the oven to 400 F. Pierece each sweet potato twice with the tines of a fork & bake unti; very tender, about 1 hour. Cool them to room temp, peel them & mash enough sweet potato to equal 1 3/4 cups.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven & set a baking sheet on the rack. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a food processor combine the sweet potato, eggs and all of the spices and process briefly. Add the whipping cream, half & half, bourbon & vanilla & process again, pausing to scrape the work bowl, until smooth.

Pour the filling into the pie shell, set it on the heated baking sheet and bake 45-50 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack before cutting.

You can serve each slice topped with a dollop of lightly sweetened, bourbon spiked cream but it's delicious unadorned.

Nina

Thanks Nina..c/p'd!

Hubby swears that you can't make a sweet potato with the same recipe as Pumpkin..He says the seasonings aren't the same..He makes it from scratch, with no recipe..but then again..he's not made his own pie in oh 10-15 years! LOL (Probably forgot what to put in it anyway!)

That recipe looks wonderfully spicy. Thanks! Saved.