Sugar High Friday: Sweet potato pie with bourbon, pecans and maple syrup

The 18th (I think) round of Sugar High Friday is being hosted by Chandra of Lick The Spoon. The theme is one not unfamiliar to us here at Slashfood: cooking with booze. The official title is "Candy is Dandy...But Liquor is Quicker." My contribution is a sweet potato pie with bourbon, topped with pecans and maple syrup. The recipe comes from Alton Brown and his episode of Good Eats dedicated to sweet potatoes. A transcript of the episode, including the pie recipe, is available through the Good Eats Fan Page. That recipe doesn't include bourbon, but I happened to have a bottle of Baker's on the shelf, and, well, you know, it seemed like a good idea. Since this was the first time I made this recipe (or sweet potato pie, for that matter), I didn't want to tinker with it too much, so I only used two tablespoons of bourbon, around half a shot. It could probably have used a little more, as the bourbon flavor is rather faint. Still, it's one of the best sweet potato pies I've tasted. I'm not ashamed to say that the crust was store-bought. I'm still an amateur in the baking department, and, since I always manage to make a huge mess anyway, I figured I'd make it easier on myself. Truth be told, I still managed to scorch a pot and dirty an extra pie pan. But that's all in the past now. What I'm left with is my favorite type of pie, and a killer version at that.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]