Ingredients

1. 2 1/2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (yams), about 5 medium, scrubbed but unpeeled.
2. 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted.
3. 1 cup granulated sugar.
4. 1/2 cup evaporated milk (See Patti's Pointers below)
5. 2 large eggs.
6. 1 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg.
7. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
8. 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Since 2015, the singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman has become a staple of the holiday thanks to her delicious, mouthwatering, and tender Good Life by Patti LaBelle Sweet Potato Pie - perfect for those palates that always craves a flaky crust with a creamy filling.

Nutrition facts

Chef notes. Singer Patti LaBelle learned this pie recipe from her best friend and hairstylist Norma Gordon Harris. This sweet potato pie has a thin layer of brown sugar on the bottom crust. This "black bottom" doesn't just add flavor, it also helps keep the filling from making the crust soggy.

By 1881, a Black woman named Abby Fisher published a cookbook with a recipe for sweet potato pie, possibly the first recipe of its kind. Over time, the sweet potato pie became an integral part of the identity of the involuntary African immigrant.

Humble pie, or umble pie, is also a term for a variety of pastries based on medieval meat pies. The expression derives from umble pie, a pie filled with chopped or minced offal, especially of deer but often other meats. Umble evolved from numble (after the Middle French nombles), meaning "deer's innards".

Any leftover pureed sweet potatoes can be frozen for up to 6 months. The pie can be baked and refrigerated a day in advance. Adapted from "LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About," by Patti LaBelle (Clarkson Potter, 1999).

The first sweet potato pies were requested by and perfected for the slave owners in the Big House as a way to imitate European traditions. After the Civil War, Southerners continued to favor the sweet potato pie to thumb their noses at the Northern pumpkin pie.

“Sweet potatoes are a source of carbohydrates, which raise blood sugars,” says White. “People with diabetes can eat carbs but need to watch portions of foods with carbs.” What this means: Limit portions to half a sweet potato per meal or snack.

Sweet potato is known to be beneficial to individuals with type 2 diabetes due to the high levels of magnesium and fiber, which can aid in reducing insulin resistance and stabilizing blood sugar.

Patti LaBelle's If Only You Knew how good Patti LaBelle's sweet potato pie tastes, you would sing some of her greatest hits, too.

Patti Labelle's And, of course, her legendary sweet potato pie is still a favorite: I just had a piece of Patti Labelle's sweet potato pie and the lady really knows her way around a pie kitchen.