Pie versus Cake--- State Champion: Pecan Pie!

Photo from Our State Magazine web page. 

Our State magazine recently had a contest to decide if North Carolina is a pie state or a cake state with voting to determine the results.  The February issue of Our State has a lot of information about and some great recipes for pies and cakes of North Carolina.

From Our State Magazine website.

 By February 14th the contest was down to the Elite Eight:  Four pies and four cakes.

Only eight desserts remained in Our State’s Pie versus Cake competition.

In the second round, top-seeded pecan pie continued its domination by easily routing peach pie, 70.4% to 29.6%. It now faced lemon meringue pie, which defeated sweet potato pie in a surprising upset.  And chocolate chess pie faced apple pie.

On the cake side, chocolate layer cake narrowly beat carrot cake, garnering 51.2% of votes to carrot’s 48.8%. Chocolate layer cake faced red velvet cake. And pound cake faced pineapple upside down cake.

I chose pecan over lemon meringue, but that was a close call for me.  It was easy for me to choose chocolate chess pie over apple pie.  In the cake category I voted for chocolate layer cake and pound cake. 

Now it's down to the final four: two pies and two cakes. It was Pecan Pie vs. Apple Pie and Pound Cake vs. Chocolate Layer Cake.  I voted for Pecan Pie and Pound Cake.

Pecan Pie.

Pound Cake.

In the final round it was Pecan Pie vs. Pound Cake.  Oh it was hard to choose between these two. Both are mighty good, but I voted for Pecan Pie. 

A person could vote each day for their favorite in each bracket (reminds me of the NCAA basketball brackets).  I voted on many days, and I was pulling for pecan pie to be the winner.

State Champion: Pecan Pie!

Pecan Pie, The Winner!!!!

And indeed the Pecan Pie did win.  I am making one this weekend in honor of its being the favorite pie in North Carolina.

Mama's Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

 

Sweet potato pie featured in News and Observer's Life Section on Wednesday.

Reading the feature article about sweet potato pies in Wednesday's N&O reminded me how much I like sweet potato pie and of my mother's recipe for it.  So I dug out the recipe from my recipe file, went to the Farmer's Market and bought some sweet potatoes and made me a pie.  I agree with the article that suggests that the sweet potato pie should become the official pie of North Carolina.  The sweet potato is already the official state vegetable for North Carolina.  A number of states do have an official state pie.

Recipe for Mama’s Sweet Potato Pie

2 cups, cooked, peeled, and mashed sweet potatoes

¼  cup melted butter

3 large eggs beaten

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ cup bourbon whiskey (optional)

1 unbaked 9” pie shell

Boil sweet potatoes until tender, peel and mash them well. (I actually puree them in a blender to break up the potato fibers). Mix all ingredients together and pour into an unbaked pie shell (9 inch).  Place in a preheated 400F degree oven and immediately turn the oven to 325F.  Bake for 45 minutes or until the center of the pie is set.  Cool slightly before serving.  It is good warm or cold and can be topped with a dollop of whipped cream.  Serves 8. 

Boiled sweet potatoes.

Pureed sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato pie with a dollop of whipped cream.

 

This is a good recipe. It's not too sweet, and don't leave out the nutmeg (I grate fresh) or the lemon juice. I didn't have bourbon this time, and it is much better with the bourbon.  Mama never made it without the bourbon.  


Yes, I think sweet potato pie should become the official state pie for North Carolina.