Sweet potato pie (spiced Southern classic)

Steps

1. Sweet potatoes: place them whole, with the skin on, in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes, until a knife blade slides through with no resistance. Drain and let cool slightly: the skin will slip off easily.
2. Crust: whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar for the dough. Add the very cold diced butter and work it in with your fingertips or pulse in a food processor until you get coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork, until the dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 30 cm (12 in) circle, about 3 mm thick, and fit it into a 23 cm (9 in) pie dish. Fold the excess dough under along the rim and crimp the edges with your fingers. Freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Line the crust with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and blind-bake for 12 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake for another 3 minutes, until the bottom looks dry. Lower the oven temperature to 175 °C (350 °F).
5. Peel the sweet potatoes and whip the warm flesh with an electric mixer for 1 to 2 minutes with the softened butter until completely smooth. Rinse the beaters: stringy fibers will cling to them, so discard those fibers.
6. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, then beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and evaporated milk, mixing on low speed until smooth without incorporating too much air.
7. Pour the filling into the par-baked crust and smooth the top. Set the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 175 °C (350 °F), until the edges are set and the center barely wobbles when gently shaken. A knife inserted near the center should come out clean. Shield the crust with foil if it browns too quickly.
8. Let cool for at least 2 hours on a wire rack before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, topped with whipped cream.