Mr. Obama's Sweet Potato Pie

[babylonsister]

Mr. Obama's Sweet Potato Pie
By Teresa Wiltz | TheRoot.com

A D.C. soul food legend takes aim at the new president's sweet tooth.
Henry's sweet potatoe clan

Jeff MacMillan
Patriarch Henry Smith flanked by his children Jermaine and Henrietta.


Nov. 26, 2008--By his own admission, he is a man obsessed, this president-elect of ours. Women on the campaign trail have offered to cook for him, one of them declaring, "I'll make you pie, baby!" And he has decreed that they must not just make him any pie, but that they must make him … sweet potato pie. In fact, there should be a contest of said spud pies, a contest that he, and only he, will judge. This, with apologies to Sade, is no ordinary culinary love.

If it's sweet potato pie that Barack Obama wants, then it is sweet potato pie that Barack Obama must have.

There are people who know this, and right now, in an obscure storefront in D.C.'s U Street corridor, these people are plotting and planning their own presidential domination. They want to conquer President-elect Obama, one slice at a time.

"My No. 1 job is to {woo} Obama," says Jermaine Smith, president of Henry's Soul Café. "And it's going to be as easy as giving him a slice."

"I don't think it'll take a slice," his sister, Henrietta Smith-Davis, manager of operations, says.

More like a piece of a slice.

"It's almost inevitable," Jermaine adds.

These are people who believe in the power of the pie. A sign in Henry's Soul Café says, "Best Pie on the Planet," a bit of gustatory hubris, perhaps, but who are we to argue? (On the real, though, it's seriously good pie.)

Walk into Henry's Soul Café right now, right before Thanksgiving, and you'll see folks lining up to partake of those legendary pies. Folks who thought ahead and called in their holiday orders and folks who didn't but are hoping that fate will intervene and grant them a pie—or two. (The Smiths sell around 10,000 pies each Thanksgiving, from D.C. to California to China.) But even if they are turned away, there's always the Smiths' "Pie in a Kit," to be obtained for $27 on their Web site.

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http://www.theroot.com/id/49027?from=rss

[liberalmuse]

1. Yup.

It but takes a pie to conquer a man. Even a great man. :)

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Damn that looks good.

Made me 2 this afternoon too! ::headbang:

[daninthemoon]

3. my wife is picking up some sweet potatos right now. I prefer pumpkin,

but those do look good.

[roseBudd]

5. pumkin is but a pale imitation of... sweet potato pie!

[Clio the Leo]

7. Picking it up! How do you PICK UP a pie! lol

I have NO baking skills whatsoever but you know what I'm MAKING tomorrow?

PIE!!!!!

"Pick up" a pie! Pshaw!!!

You're a Republican aren't you! :)

[daninthemoon]

9. well...she went to the store, picked up some sweet potatos, bought

them, brought them home, now she's going to cook them, stir them up, and bake a pie. She picked up the sweet potatos like I said. Sabe?

[niceypoo]

20. I like em all...

except mincemeat. Do people still make mincemeat pies? We always had them when I was a kid at xmas and ThanksGiving. Always hated them.

[madeline_con]

4. Yum , yum and yum! n/t

[ashling]

6. Hey, Henry!

get your thumb out of the pie, man!

[AlCzervik]

8. i'm making 2 tonight, the potato's are almost done baking.

[Historic NY]

10. Pie is gooooood foooooood..

I got a blueberry, a bourbon apple, pumkin & I'm hoping my cousin brings a sweet potato.

[Lisa0825]

11. Damn, if only I'd known about this sooner!

I am making my first ever Sweet Potato Pie tonight! It is in the oven right now! I told everyone it was in Obama's honor! LOL

Maybe next year I'll try the kit!

[AlCzervik]

12. me too! I'm hoping for the best but i have aback up plan if this one goes to hell.

[shanti]

13. omg

i love me some potato pie! never have been able to make a good one myself tho...

[RepublicanElephant]

14. Sweet Potato Pie

several sweet potato pie recipes.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/sweetpotatodess/r/bl31011h.htm

[tigereye]

15. i've never had it, but after having sweet potatoes for dinner the other night

I want some! Maybe next year. I already made pumpkin cheesecake pies!

[MarjorieG]

16. Sweet Potato Cheesecake I made for our Obama celebration.

Although just a creamier pie, not the cheesecake a la pumpkin I made before.

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (29 ounce) can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (actually used 3/4 c.)
1/4 cup light cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, mix graham crackers, cinnamon, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and butter. Press mixture into the prepared springform pan to form a crust. Bake 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. In a large bowl, blend cream cheese, sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup brown sugar, light cream, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the baked crust. Bake pie 1 hour in the preheated oven, or less if using ceramic dish.

NOTE: I added more brown sugar and cinnamon to the pie. Had heavy cream for the whipped topping, and subbed it for the light cream. Also used a 10" springform, for a higher than usual tart size, serving more.

Served alongside our Obama life-size cut-out. Delicious, especially after hearing his sweet potato pie riff live.

[KittyWampus]

17. tagging for later, thanks

[tigereye]

18. thanks, I'll save this for another time!

:hi:

[Egnever]

19. It's so nice to have good stories about our president again.

Thanks for this one it was cute.

[redstate_democrat]

21. My grandmother makes the best sweet potato pies ever

She blows Henry's sweet potato pies off the map. :P