Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Shot

Thanksgiving is all about tradition.  I grew up as an only child.  Both of my parents came from larger families, and we spend most of our holidays with them, so nearly all of our traditions have been handed down to us.  It’s hard for such a small family unit to form any traditions of our own.  That being said, one tradition that is all ours is Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.

Many years ago, my parents discovered the joys of Cajun and Creole food.  In one of their cookbooks, they found a recipe for Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.  When we venture to Buffalo for our big holiday gatherings, others usually take care of the desserts.  But for the Thanksgivings and Christmases that we celebrate at home in Pennsylvania, we always have our Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.

So, to further the tradition, I made Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Shotibles for Thanksgiving this year.  Once again, I used the store bought pie crust dough.  The filling includes mashed sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, eggs, cream, sugar and some bourbon.  I then topped each with pecan halves and some chopped pecans.  I covered that with a syrup made with sugar, eggs, corn syrup, butter, and more bourbon.  I baked them for nearly an hour and a half at 300 degrees.

What’s fun is I didn’t have to work hard to find a liquor that would match the dessert.  My family always includes bourbon, even though it’s not part of the original recipe.  And, it’s still kid friendly because the alcohol cooks off.  Jeff and I headed up to Buffalo without my folks this year.  I brought the Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Shotibles along, and shared the tradition with the rest of my family.

Peach Cobbler Shot

Jeff’s aunt Connie turns 50 this week, and her family threw her a surprise birthday party.  This was my first real opportunity to bring Shotibles to a party.  People have been suggesting I try out peach cobbler for a while now, so I went with it.

It’s kind of funny to me that peach cobbler can mean a lot of different things to different people.  I wanted to be sure that I didn’t make it too much like a peach pie, so rather than baking a pie crust "glass", I made one out of vanilla wafer cookies.  I found a recipe similar to the graham cracker crust used for the S’more and Key Lime Pie Shotibles.

Jeff was a huge help this week.  He peeled and diced eight peaches.  We cooked it up in a sauce pan with some bourbon, sugar, corn starch and cinnamon.  We cooked it on medium to low heat for about 20 minutes; until the peaches were tender.

After the peaches cooled, I filled the glasses and topped it with a little cookie crumb.   I’m thrilled to say Shotibles gained a few more fans at the party.  The Peach Cobbler Shotibles were a huge success.