Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie - Veganized!

Patti LaBelle’s sweet potato pie has certainly caused an internet sensation! Wal-Mart can’t keep it in stock. The recipe is elusive. And top it off with the absolutely hilarious viral video of James Wright sampling it and breaking out into the best LaBelle imitation ever – Well, all this got me curious. 

Is it really that good?

I found the recipe, but alas, it’s laden with eggs, butter, and cream. (No wonder it’s all the rave.) Many of the staff at the shelter where I work were talking about this elusive pie. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I made it for their Thanksgiving feast. And yes, I tasted it in order to get a reference point to jump off from. After all, if I was going to duplicate it or even surpass it with a vegan version, I had to know what I was up against.

The thing that made this pie so notorious in my opinion, was the copious amounts of butter and cream in Miss LaBelle’s creation. Also, the nutmeg. Normally, just a hint of that spice is used in most recipes. In Patti’s pie, its fragrant woodiness is brought to the forefront.

I went with my version of cashew cream instead of the moo-cow stuff. Easy enough. I tinkered with using coconut oil instead of butter but didn’t want to go quite as heavy as LaBelle’s use of an entire stick (8 tablespoons) per pie.

After tasting mine, I thought I’d nailed it. To be sure, I conducted a blind taste test with the staff to see which one they liked better – Patti LaBelle’s or my vegan version. Both slices were offered to eight subjects without telling them anything about either offering. (The vegan version is on the right.)

And there was a clear winner: By seven-to-one, the vegan version was preferred!

Nailed it!

So, now you don’t have to wonder about Patti LaBelle’s sweet potato pie any longer. Our vegan version is even better!

Lord only knows what James Wright would do if he tasted this one! Maybe it'll make you sing like the lovely Patti LaBelle as well. 

Here’s the recipe, my friends:

To make one 9-inch deep dish pie:

Preheat oven to 350° F

Ingredients:

1 deep dish 9-inch pie shell of your choice (check to make sure it doesn’t contain lard or butter).

2 large sweet potatoes or 3 medium ones, steamed until tender and peeled

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup unrefined coconut oil (I use Trader Joe's organic virgin coconut oil). 

½ cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water for an hour

¼ cup water

3 Tbs corn starch

1 tsp grated nutmeg

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

Pour off water from cashews and blend them in ¼ cup of water in a high-speed blender to create cashew cream.

Mash the sweet potatoes with the remaining ingredients along with the cashew cream. Mix well, pour into the pie shell and bake for 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature and serve.

© 2015 by Jon Buckner Wheat. All rights reserved.