Sweet Potato and Chocolate Pumpkin Pie With Marla

Marla is fabulous. She is easy going, and she doesn't care if we cook all evening only to have the food end up yucky. She would just feed me a Fiber One Pop Tart (with a reminder on why you should eat them in moderation) and call it a successful evening.

For this particular get together, she had found a recipe for Sweet Potato Pie. The same blog contained a recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Pie. So off we went on our adventure, with the firm desire to produce something edible at the end of the night.

Here is Marla with her apron, looking particularly stunning. I have no idea how she kisses, but she is a fantastic cook, so ya better watch out if you are trying to take her on a date. She's a fire cracker. Really, I have no idea what that means, it just sounds wild and crazy.

The pies are finally in the oven.

Where they cooked and cooked and cooked, until Marla couldn't wait any longer. She left for her church meeting, and I stayed at her house until they were done. Then until I was finished taking pictures and eating my pieces. All alone in her house. With nobody to supervise me. And then.......well, nevermind. I won't talk about that here.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 - 15-oz. can pumpkin puree (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup milk (low fat is fine)

1 pie crust (graham cracker or pastry)
In a large bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until slightly foamy, about 1 minute. Whisk in all the remaining ingredients, except the milk, and beat until smooth. Then gently whisk in the milk. Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, until pumpkin filling is set.Cool completely in the pan before slicing and serving.

Sweet Potato Pie

cup cooked, pureed sweet potato

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1 graham cracker pie crust
Preheat oven to 350F. Press sweet potato puree through a wire strainer to make it as smooth as possible, adding a tablespoon or two of water if you are working with leftover potatoes to make them a bit more pliable.In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients except the flour, and whiz until smooth. Add in flour and pulse the food processor a few times until it is fully incorporated.Pour filling into pie crust. Place the pie crust on a baking sheet and place baking sheet on the middle rack of a preheated oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until pie is set and jiggles only very slightly when the pan is bumped.