Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

Makes one 8-inch pie; from Paul Prudhomme

Dough: [I use Pillsbury frozen crust -sorry!
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ of a whole egg, vigorously beaten until frothy (reserve the other half for the sweet potato filling)
2 tablespoons cold milk
1 cup all purpose flour

Sweet-Potato Filling:
2 to 3 sweet potatoes (or enough to yield 1 cup cooked pulp), baked
¼ cup, packed, light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
½ egg, vigorously beaten until frothy (reserved above)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pecan Pie syrup:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 small eggs
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
3/4 cup pecan pieces or halves


For the dough: Place the softened butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer; beat on high speed until the mixture is creamy. Add the 1/2 egg and beat 30 seconds. Add the milk and beat on high speed 2 minutes. Add the flour and beat on medium speed 5 seconds, then on high speed just until blended, about 5 seconds more (overmixing will produce a tough dough). Remove the dough ~ the bowl and shape into a 5-inch patty about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly dust the patty with flour and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. (The dough will last up to one week refrigerated.)
On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to a thickness of 1/8 to ¼ inch. Very lightly flour the top of the dough arid fold it into quarters. Carefully place dough in a greased and floured 8 inch round cake pan (1½ inches deep) so that the corner of the folded dough is centered in the pan. Unfold the dough and arrange it to fit the sides and bottom of pan; press firmly in place. Trim edges. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
For the sweet-potato filling: Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer until the batter is smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overbeat. Set aside.
For the pecan pie syrup: Combine all the ingredients except the pecans in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly on slow speed of electric mixer until the syrup is opaque, about 1 minute; stir in pecans and set aside.
To assemble: Spoon the sweet-potato filling evenly into the dough-?lined cake pan. Pour the pecan syrup on top. Bake in a 325 oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1¾ hours. Note:The pecans will rise to the top of the pie during baking.)
Cool and serve with Chantilly Cream. Store pie at room temperature for the first 24 hours, then (in the unlikely event there is any left) refrigerate.