Sweet Potato Coconut Pie with Marshmallow Meringue

Name: Sweet Potato Coconut Pie with Marshmallow Meringue
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 8 servings.
Cuisine: Comfort Food Desserts, Comfort Food Recipes
Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger; 6 tablespoons cold butter; 2 tablespoons shortening; 3 to 4 tablespoons cold water; FILLING:; 1 cup coconut milk; 3/4 cup packed brown sugar; 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened; 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes; 3 large eggs, lightly beaten; 2 teaspoons lemon juice; 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; MERINGUE:; 3/4 cup sugar; 1/3 cup water; 4 large egg whites, room temperature; 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme; Miniature marshmallows and sweetened shredded coconut, optional

My grandmother's sweet potato casserole contains coconut and marshmallows. I thought it would be even better as a pie. —Simone Bazos, Baltimore, Maryland

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
FILLING:
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
MERINGUE:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
Miniature marshmallows and sweetened shredded coconut, optional

Directions

In a food processor, combine the flour, salt and ginger; cover and pulse to blend. Add butter and shortening; cover and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
While processing, gradually add water just until moist crumbs form. Shape into a disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 425°. Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Transfer to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute or press edges. Refrigerate until ready to fill.
For filling, in a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk, brown sugar and cream cheese. Cook and stir until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl; cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the sweet potatoes, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Pour into crust.
Bake on lower oven rack for 10-15 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 325°; bake until set, 40-50 minutes. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before topping with meringue.
For meringue, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; using a pastry brush dipped in water, wash down the sides of the pan to eliminate sugar crystals. When mixture comes to a boil, stop brushing. Cook without stirring until a thermometer reads 240° (soft-ball stage).
As sugar mixture cooks, preheat broiler. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. While beating, gradually drizzle hot sugar mixture over egg whites; continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form.
Place marshmallow creme in a separate large bowl; fold in a third of the egg white mixture, then fold in the remaining mixture. If necessary, beat again until stiff glossy peaks form.
Spread meringue over pie; broil 4-6 in. from heat until slightly browned, 1-2 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Editor's Note

Let pie weights cool before storing. Beans and rice may be reused for pie weights, but not for cooking.

Nutrition Facts

1 piece: 598 calories, 21g fat (13g saturated fat), 100mg cholesterol, 348mg sodium, 88g carbohydrate (60g sugars, 3g fiber), 9g protein.

Originally published as Coconut Sweet Potato Meringuemallow Pie in Taste of Home November 2011

Reviews

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Average Rating:

jvaliante

Apr 18, 2016

Made this in a pre baked pie crust, it was ok.....I didn't use coconut because not everybody is a fan,every one said they liked it but personally, I thought there was too much lemon juice.I will make again with half the lemon juice.
Grammy Debbie

Oct 5, 2015

I made this for a family reunion and it is just delicious. Even family members who don't normally like sweet potatoes loved this pie. It's dangerous for me to have around, I could easily eat more than one piece! I loved the marshmallow meringue, didn't have any mini-marshmallows so I left those off the top of the meringue. I will definitely be making this pie again!
pamsterhamster

Apr 13, 2015

I had to change this to pumpkin & it is great. Served for last 2 Thanksgivings & now it is always a request.
VictoriaElaine

Jan 6, 2014

The meringue turned out wonderful, but as another reviewer stated, the cream cheese didn't melt (see step 5) which resulted in the pie having bits of cream cheese throughout. The pie filling just didn't taste nearly as good as other sweet potato pie recipes I've tried.
kristinscotth

Nov 27, 2011

This pie was the shocker for our Thanksgiving. Usually, my husband and I are aren't huge fans of A) pumpkin/sweet potato pies or B) meringue pies. BUT, with the addition of the coconut (because we adore it so much), I was intrigued, and decided to give it a try. It was SO good!! We absolutely loved it, and have decided to make it as a Thanksgiving tradition. The only issue I had was following the tip that was to the side of the recipe. It said to brush the unbaked pastry with a lightly beaten egg to ensure that the crust doesn't get soggy. My gut told me that if I brushed the whole crust with the egg wash, and then put the foil and pie weights on top, the crust would stick to the foil, and that's exactly what happened. I should've gone with my gut. Perhaps, the tip didn't mean the entire crust, but I was unsure, because it said "brush UNBAKED pastry..." Anyway, I just remade the crust over again, no worries. I really liked this pie crust recipe. I usually go with my standard, but I liked this one better, because there was a little more dough to work with, so I didn't have to roll out the crust as thinly, so it was nicer to roll out and to flute compared to my standard, so this crust will now become my standard. I'll just leave out the ground ginger with certain pies. With the sweet potato layer... when the coconut milk, cream cheese, and brown sugar were in a pan on the stove, I never could get rid of those last tiny bits of cream cheese that didn't want to melt and incorporate with the rest of the mixture. They were soft to the touch, and I was tired of waiting, so my mixture did have little specks of cream cheese in it. However, this did not affect the texture of the pie. I could see them after it was baked, but you couldn't feel them with your tongue. Maybe I should start warming up the coconut milk first, and then add the cream cheese to help it melt better? I also thought the sweet potato layer and the meringue layer complemented each other really well. I loved the contrast in texture--the firmer sweet potato layer, and the light, airy meringue with the shredded coconut that was sprinkled on top. I really loved the addition of the shredded coconut. One-fourth cup isn't much coconut, but it was enough that it made a big difference in texture, which I liked. I've never had success making meringue pies before. They usually shrink and weep on me, but it didn't happen with this pie. I don't know if I finally did something right or if the addition of the marshmallow creme helped, but finally, I did not get a weeping meringue!! I highly recommend this recipe. It was delish!
CAROL11295

Nov 26, 2011

This is the most delicious pie I ever tasted. My sister-in-law made this, I didn't but I sure ate it. She & I will make this meringue for all pies that require meringue. The sweet potato filling is out of the world