REC: Cazuela Pie.......This is a Puerto Rican inspired recipe from Regan Daley......
It might not be a spectacular presentation but, boy is it good!
Cazuela Pie
Source: In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley
"Cazuela is a traditional Puerto Rican
pudding, usually baked in banana leaves."
2 - 9 1/2" glass pie dishes, lined with
unbaked crust, well chilled
2 1/2 pounds orange sweet potatoes, peeled
and cut into small egg sized chunks
1 1/4C water
2 small or 1 large cinnamon stick, broken
into pieces
5 whole cloves
1 star anise, crumbled
1 1/2" long piece of fresh ginger, peeled
and cut into 1/4" slices
4 C homemade pumpkin puree or good quality
canned solid pack pumpkin
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4C unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1C granulated sugar
1C + 2T tightly packed light brown sugar
1/4C all purpose flour
1 1/2t salt
1C good quality canned coconut milk (stir
the contents of the can well before
measuring out the amount you need)
1 1/2C heavy cream, chilled and whipped
1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Place the
sweet potato chunks in a single layer in one
large or two medium shallow, ceramic baking
dish(es). Add the water, dividing it
between the two dishes if necessary. The
water should be about 1/2" deep; add more if
the level is lower than this. Scatter the
pieces of cinnamon stick, cloves, pieces of
star anise and ginger slices among the sweet
potatoes. Cover baking dishes securely with
aluminum foil and place in the preheated
oven. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until
the potatoes are very tender when pierced
with the tip of a sharp knife. Remove the
potatoes from the dishes and force them
through a ricer, food mill or sieve. Let
cool. Strain the baking liquid, discarding
the solids, and measure. You want about
1/2C of liquid; if you have less, add enough
fresh water to make 1/2C; if you have more,
simmer the liquid in a small saucepan on the
stove over high heat until it is reduced to
about 1/2C. Let the liquid cool. (The
pumpkin, potato and spiced liquid can all be
prepared up to 3 days ahead of time and
stored in the refrigerator. Bring each to
room temperature before proceeding with the
recipe. Each of these elements can also be
frozen for up to 5 months (thaw overnight in
the refrigerator before bringing to room
temp.)
2. Increase the oven temp to 350°. In a
large bowl, combine the pumpkin and sweet
potato purees and stir to blend well. Beat
in the eggs, then stir in the melted butter
and reserved spice liquid. In a separate
bowl, stir together the granulated and brown
sugars with a wire whisk. Sift the flour
and salt over the sugars and stir to blend.
Add the sugar-flour mixture to the pumpkin
mixture and stir well until there are no
pockets of sugar visible. Blend in the
coconut milk.
3. Scrape the filling into the two chilled
pie shells, dividing it evenly and smoothing
the tops. Place the pies in the lower half
of the preheated oven and bake for 1 3/4 - 2
hours, turning the pies several times so
they bake evenly. The point of a thin-
bladed knife should come out clean when
inserted into the centre of the filling, and
the surface should be unevenly cracked. If
the edges of the pastry seem to be darkening
too much before the filling is cooked, cover
them strips of aluminum foil. Transfer the
pies to wire racks and cool completely
before serving with mounds of lightly
sweetened whipped cream. Each pie would
serve 6 to 8 people if everyone wants only
one piece. This is unlikely.
Cooks Notes: My sweet potatoes took over an
hour to get to that tender point. However,
the house smelled delicious because of the
spices so I didn't mind the additional time.
I only baked one pie, freezing the balance
of the filling for use later. It still took
a full 2 hours for my pie to bake. I
covered the crust after the first hour.
Pie is great even without the addition of
the sweetened whip cream.
Please enjoy!
