Yam Tarts

The Story of Yam Tarts

This is a traditional southern black culture recipe. I was raised eating this especially during the U.S. holiday seasons. As I have introduced this dessert, I found the confusion comes from the title. This is a Sweet Potato Pie, but it is made with YAMs only. The sweet potato is a sweet yellow version of the white potato and who wants to make a pie out of potatoes? These tarts I introduced to Kelowna and my fan base through a live concert I performed at the Laurel Packinghouse a few years back. This is also a line in a few of my originals songs. I am so happy to share apart of my childhood culinary culture to you with this recipe (Teena Gowdy).

Preparation:

Purchase pastry tart shells, 1 medium /large Yam. A few hours ahead or the night before: Bake Yam in a 350 degree oven until juice runs out and caramelizes in the pan. Depending on the size of the yam, bake 1 to 1/12 hours. Let cool. Peel and mash yams, remove any strings you see as you mash.

In a bowl, mix these ingredients with a blender until well blended.

1 cup yam
1 egg, beaten slightly
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavouring
1 tablespoon melted butter

In a separate bowl stir together:

1 Tablespoon whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Add to wet ingredients stirring just until blended with mixer. Fill ready made pie tart shells with filling to the brim of the shell.

Bake in pre-heated oven on 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Immediately turn oven down to 350 degrees, bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with Whipped cream, ice cream, or any substitute topping. Enjoy my Southern United States dessert!