I love the color of purple sweet potatoes! So elegant! They are also called ube and purple yam, and they’ve been a popular food trend in the past few years. They’re often used in Filipino & Japanese cuisine (usually in desserts but there’re a number of savory applications too!). The texture is similar to other sweet potatoes but slightly denser, with a mild, fragrant and subtly sweet flavour. Pairing with the floral and creamy coconut milk makes the perfect combination!

Like many other fruits and vegetables with a purple hue, purple sweet potatoes are packed with anthocyanins, a group of potent antioxidants that have cancer-fighting properties. They’re also rich in resistant starch which acts as prebiotics for our gut bacteria.

Here’s what they look like! No dyes or coloring…it’s all natural! I got them at an Asian grocery store.

Here’s my recipe for Purple Sweet Potato Coconut Pie! It’s gluten free, dairy free, decadent and has just the right sweetness to my liking!

Ingredients

• 9″ Pie Shell (check out my gluten & dairy free pie shell recipe here)
• 2 cups Mashed Purple Sweet Potatoes (395g)
• 1 1/4 cups Canned Coconut Milk (full fat)
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• Coconut flakes for garnish

Methods

1. Preheat oven at 350F.
2. Roll out the pie dough and fit onto the pie tin, use a fork to lightly pierce holes in the bottom (this will help prevent the bottom of the pie shell from “ballooning”). Blind bake the pie shell by lining parchment paper over the dough and putting dried beans or rice as weights to prevent the pie shell from shrinking and sliding down the tin. Bake for 15 mins at 350F. Remove the parchment paper and weights, and bake for another 5 mins. Remove from oven and let cool. (Check out this post to see how to blind bake a pie shell and why)
3. Make the mashed purple sweet potatoes: steam whole sweet potatoes over high heat for 20-30 mins or until soft (use a chopstick or butter knife to test!). Use a potato masher or fork to mash the purple sweet potatoes (it’ OK to have some small lumps as we will use a blender to make it smoother soon).
4. In a high-speed blender, add the mashed purple sweet potatoes, canned coconut milk, sugar, maple syrup, eggs and salt and blend until the mixture is smooth and silky.
5. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Bake for 30-45 mins or until the center is slightly firm (the filling should not be “jiggly”). Let cool on a wired rack for at least 30 mins before digging in!

*Recipe modified from Southern Living.

*I reco trying the pie both warm and after refrigerated and see which version you like more!

Look at how smooth the filling is! And its deep lavender color!