Each Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law makes a side dish called “Senator’s yams.” The worn recipe card starts with canned sweetened yams and ends with a pecan streusel laden with butter and brown sugar. I wanted to give it more of a pie-like feel, so I start with fresh sweet potatoes, shingle them into a tight gratin-like stack, and bake them in a maple cream. The result is a base so luscious yet substantial that it eliminates the need for dough on the bottom. My crunchy topping, which swaps my mother-in-law’s flour for oats, is all the crust you need and makes this a great dish to share with gluten-free friends or family.
TIP: Try to find skinny, thin-skinned orange sweet potatoes. If you have thicker ones, halve them lengthwise first.
makes one 9-by-13-inch pie
gluten-free, no eggs
Maple Sweet Potatoes
PECAN-OAT STREUSEL
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
2. To make the sweet potatoes: Whisk the cream, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a small bowl. Using the tip of a sharp knife, score the sweet potatoes lengthwise at ½-inch intervals. Cut crosswise into 1/16-inch-thick slices, using a mandoline or other slicer or a sharp knife. Spread half of the sweet potatoes in a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish, shuffling the slices around to fit them as compactly as possible, minimizing the spaces between them. (If you’d like to go for a professional look, put down the slices one at a time, overlapping them slightly to shingle them in single even layers. Press down on each layer after arranging to compact the slices.) Pour over half of the cream mixture. Repeat with the remaining sweet potatoes and cream. Press down on the layers to totally submerge the sweet potatoes in the cream mixture. Cover the dish tightly with foil.
3. Bake until the sweet potatoes are almost tender and the liquid is bubbling around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the streusel: Process the oats in a food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Add the pecans, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and pulse until the nuts are chopped. Add the butter and pulse until small clumps and crumbs form.
5. Uncover the sweet potatoes and sprinkle the streusel evenly on top. (If it’s been chilled, break the mixture into smaller clumps.) Return the dish to the oven and bake until the cream has been completely absorbed, the potatoes are cooked through, and the top is browned, about 45 minutes. A thin-bladed knife or metal cake tester inserted in the center should easily slide through the potatoes.
6. Cool for at least 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
The streusel can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. The pie will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The topping won’t be as crisp, but can be revived in the toaster oven or oven.