The Absolute Best Way To Add A Little Heat To Sweet Potato Pie

Highlight the earthy sweetness of sweet potato in your next sweet potato pie with a touch of smoky chile. If the word chile has you imagining tears streaming down your face, rest assured that ancho chile offers a complex blend of flavor that is more nuanced than hot. The ingredient can deliver a sweet, raisin-like taste with a touch of bitterness that might remind you of your morning coffee, instantly transforming a classic recipe into a dessert that packs a bit more punch.

The dried ancho chile is first ground up before it is stirred into the filling to bring subtle heat to a simple sweet potato pie. With cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger powder already added to the pie mixture, the spices used to flavor the filling lean on the warm side, and the presence of the ancho will amp up the earthier, spicier dimensions of this recipe. Though this addition is a small tweak, it carries major rewards when it comes to the layers of flavor found in a single bite. Mole sauce fans will quickly fall in love with this treat.

Deseed and stem one dried ancho chile and mix the ground chile into the sweet potato mix as a final step prior to filling the crust of the shell to bake your pie. Consider toasting the chilies to release more aroma before including them in your recipe. Top baked slices with a dollop of whipped cream — a homemade honey whipped cream can steer this presentation into a sweeter lane — and feel free to add a sprinkle of smoked paprika to the cinnamon powder you sprinkle on top as a crowning finish. 

If you'd prefer to use ancho chile powder rather than a whole dried chile, you can just add in a tablespoon of the powder for a standard large pie. And if you're more into making pumpkin pies than sweet potato ones, that's also an easy swap and still goes well with the chile addition.

You can dial up the smoky flavors in this comforting dessert with a splash of bourbon and caramelize the filling of the pie to create a dish that will have dinner guests asking for your baking secrets. To serve an even more decadent slice of sweet potato pie, drizzle thin ribbons of chocolate and top plates with a sprinkles of toasted coconut flakes. This spruced-up dish delivers the sweetest combination of rich flavor and can't-put-your-fork-down texture that is guaranteed to place the recipe on repeat in your kitchen.