Korean Sweet Potato Pie

I developed this recipe while living abroad when I didn't have easy access to either evaporated milk or canned pumpkin.  Korean or Japanese sweet potatoes were in plentiful supply and using that as my base, I came up with a new pie recipe.  Korean or Japanese sweet potatoes have a firmer flesh than traditional western sweet potatoes, and a more complex sweetness with almost a nutty flavor when roasted.  In a pie, it's just heavenly.

1 9 inch pie crust, prepared

2.5 lbs of Korean/Japanese sweet potatoes
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (or substitute 1 teaspoon ground ginger spice)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 beaten egg white, for brushing onto pie crust.

Preheat oven to 400. With a fork, puncture your sweet potatoes with a few pricks. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until potatoes are squishy, anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour. Allow to cool. (I usually do these first thing in the morning and set them aside.)

Preheat oven to 400.  When sweet potatoes are nice and cool, scoop out potato flesh. Take 2 cups of sweet potatoes and put them in a bowl. Mash them up with a potato masher OR process them with a hand blender. Get the texture to be fairly smooth and uniform.

Add cream and brown sugar. Mix until well blended. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger and cinnamon. Mix well.

Brush pie crust with beaten egg white.  Pour sweet potato filling into crust.   Bake at 400 for 45 minutes, or until filling is set.

Allow pie to cool for 30 minutes.  Serve either warm or room temperature.  Whipped cream is a perfect topping.