Crispy and flaky, with a smooth, silky filling, Japanese Sweet Potato Pie is my all-time favorite Japanese pastry. Best enjoyed with a cup of coffee or black tea, this sweet potato pie is light, but rich, making it the perfect afternoon indulgence.
When I go back to Japan, I always enjoy going to bakeries with my mom. We love browsing through the tantalizing displays and picking up different kinds of fresh bread and pastry for our breakfast next day. It’s hard to make a choice, but some of my all-time favorites include Melon Pan, Anpan, Yakisoba Pan, and Korokke Pan which I’ve shared the recipes with you. Today I’m sharing another favorite of mine – Japanese Sweet Potato Pie (スイートポテトパイ).
What’s Japanese Sweet Potato Pie?
Japanese Sweet Potato Pie has been a classic pastry in Japan. You can find them at corner mom-and-pop shops to trendy pastry shops. To make this classic pie, Japanese sweet potato is cooked until fork tender, mashed and combined with butter, heavy cream and whisk until silky smooth. Then the mixture is folded into layers of puff pastry sheets and baked until crispy gold. The flaky exterior crackles when you bite into it, giving way to the rich creamy interior of sweet potato filling. It is wonderful with tea or coffee.
Japanese Sweet Potato – Satsumaimo
Originating in South or Central America, Japanese sweet potato or satsumaimo (さつまいも) in Japanese were first introduced to Japan in Okinawa (the old Ryukyu Islands) in the early 17th century by the Chinese. Then, satsumaimo were introduced to the Kyushu island, which makes up the majority of satsumaimo production in Japan.
Satsumaimo have a purple-ish red skin and pale, cream color flesh. They are high in antioxidants and healthier than a regular potato. Holding a special place in Japanese culture and history, the Japanese sweet potato is one of the beloved ingredients by pastry chefs in Japan. You can find sweet potatoes being used in many Japanese desserts, both western and Japanese-styles, from pies, cookies, cakes, soft-serve ice-creams, tarts, sweet breads, daigakuimo to every pastry imaginable.
Puff Pastry Sheet – Convenient Freezer Essential
Making the perfect sweet potato pie at home is not an impossible feat, but it does take some time if you want to make the pie crust from scratch. A quick solution is to use puff pastry sheet. You essentially thaw it, roll it out, fill it and bake it.
I often keep a box of frozen puff pastry in my freezer. It is something of an essential for easy appetizers or dessert-making. If you’ve ever baked with it, you know what I’m talking about. You can quickly pull off the most basic recipe and turn it into something flaky, buttery, elegant and crowd-pleasing snacks.
Perfectly flaky, these warm and golden Japanese Sweet Potato Pies are a lovely treat for an afternoon snack or for serving a crowd on a weekend brunch. The recipe that I share yields two pies, but if you want to make one pie (serves 2-4 people), just use half of the ingredients portion I listed below. Enjoy!
Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for the FREE Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
Crispy and flaky, with a smooth, silky filling, Japanese Sweet Potato Pie is my all-time favorite Japanese pastry. Best enjoyed with a cup of coffee or black tea, this sweet potato pie is light, but rich, making it the perfect afternoon indulgence.
- 1 lb Japanese sweet potato (Satsumaimo) (cut in half lengthwise, and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.) (I used purple sweet potato)
- 2 frozen sheets puff pastry (Each box comes with 2 square sheets)
- 2 Tbsp heavy (whipping) cream
- 4 Tbsp sugar (50 g)
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large egg yolk (for filling)
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)
- 1 large egg (for pie)
Gather all the ingredients. Preheat oven to 400 ºF (200 ºC). Place 1 sheet of pastry on a baking sheet which has been lined with parchment paper. Put another pastry sheet on a different sheet of parchment paper. Defrost for 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Cut the pastry sheets in half with a scissor. Now you have 4 rectangular sheets. Then make several slits on 2 sheets that will go on top of the pie.
Peel the sweet potato and cut in half lengthwise. Then cut into smaller chunks so they will cook faster.
- In a pot, put sweet potato and cover it with water. Bring it to a boil and cook until skewer goes through the potatoes smoothly, about 12-15 minutes. Drain water completely and transfer to a large bow.
Use a potato masher or fork to mash the sweet potato. Add sugar and butter and keep mixing.
Add egg yolk and heavy whipping cream and mix well.
- Now you put the sweet potato mixture on the bottom sheets. Keep about half inch space around the rim. Then cover with the top sheet.
- Use a fork to pinch the edges.
- Beat the egg in a small bowl and brush top of the pastry so it will turn nice golden-brown. Sprinkle black sesame seeds on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool a bit and ready to serve in 10 minutes.
You can freeze the baked and cooled pies. Wrap in aluminum foil and put in a freezer bag. To serve, reheat the pie at 350 ºF (180 ºC) for 10-15 minutes, until crisp and flaky.
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on January 17, 2011. The post has been updated with new images and revised recipe.
wow, this looks super yummy nami! i didn’t know you blogged a cookbook….. now i’m going to have to look through it to see what i can try cooking!!
Thanks Mai! I started blogging 3 weeks ago and I’m still learning how to create a site. Some Japanese food takes a long time to cook, but I hope to share more easy recipes here for busy moms likes us! I have 250 recipes on my facebook, but we can’t do search there. So here I am trying to organize my recipes. Thank you for visiting my site!
you have 250 recipes on facebook, where?? i need to look through them for some easy recipes. your recipes make cooking sound soooo simple! i am going to have to try these
They are in Note under my Facebook account (not page). FB used to show “compact” view of entire Note entries, but they don’t have that option anymore. So only way for you to see all recipes is to click “next” button on the bottom. Isn’t that crazy? Hopefully this site will be easier for everyone to search and look. Only problem is that there are not so many contents yet. LOL.
I’m normally a below average baker, but this recipe was so easy to follow and foolproof that I felt super accomplished with the result. Thank you, Nami, for the thoughtful details in the recipe. Most of all, thanks for giving me renewed hope and interest in baking!
Thank you Tina for your feedback! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed baking this easy pie!
This sounds and looks so good!! I’m going to buy some puff pastry and sweet potatoes and try it soon! But I can’t find the Japanese kind though. Is it white outside and purple inside?
Outside is not white, but more like purple/brownish color? …You can use Satsumaimo (Japanese yam) too. Find your favorite sweet potatoes to make it. 🙂 You might need to adjust the amount of sugar though. Enjoy!
Ok I’ll see what’s available. Thanks. By the way I am impressed with how quickly your website has grown so big 🙂 you’re fantastic!
Try adding 1/2 tsp. each of pumpkin pie spice, allspice and cinnamon.
Then add a Tbsp. of vanilla extract and 1-1/2 Tbsp’ns of all purpose flour.
Finally, instead of the bottom layer being puff pastry, try layered & buttered phyllo dough! Also, replace the egg wash with orange marmalade… (what, I was bored!)
Thanks for your suggestion, Daniel! 🙂
Hi Nami-san! This looks so good but I am wondering if a Japanese sweet potato dish that is cooked, mashed, then has hmmm milk, sugar, etc. added, such as this and is just baked in an oven or toaster oven (I don’t know what it is called!) is the made the same way…just not put into a pie crust. Thanks!
Hi Vicki! You’re taking about sweets called “Sweet Potato (スイートポテト)”. Yes, ingredients are the same, and you just make into rolls and bake! 🙂
I hate to ask a dumb question but I really like to try this recipe but can’t seem to find any pastry sheets in the stores I go to, is there something I can use in place of that? Would pie dough or something else work as a sub for the pastry sheet?
Hi Cassie! Oh there is no dumb question! 🙂 I’m not expert in baking (which is why I use pastry sheet) but I think pie dough should work? Not sure how it’s prepared but if you like you can use my apple pie recipe instead of covering the top. I hope this helps… 🙂
If you need a puff paste in a pinch google “blitz puff”, it achieves a similar result and is much easier then laminating your dough
Hi Nami thank you for this recipe; it looks easy enough for noobs like me 🙂 I want to make this to share w my vegan friends and was wondering is it okay to skip the yolk in the fillings?
Hi Joyce! Sure, you can skip the egg yolk in the filling and for the pie (egg wash). It won’t look as shiny on the outside but your vegan friends can enjoy! 🙂
First you need to not use puff sheets…butter. That is the trickier part, with some research you can probably find a recipe for vegan puff paste
Why doesn’t the sheets need to be dusted with flour and the bottom side doesn’t need to be pricked with a fork? What’s the reason?
Hi Shuni! I think pricking part is not necessary for this recipe because the filling is quite heavy that the pie sheet won’t puff up. My puff pastry sheets come with quite a bit of flour already attached, but if yours don’t, yes, it’s probably good idea to dust more. 🙂
Is there any difference in taste n texture for purple sweet potatoes where inside their meat is also purple?
Hi Tina! From what I remember (I can’t compared side by side)…. they are similar. Purple ones we can get are from Okinawa. 🙂
Hi Nami, thank you for sharing the recipe! I am wondering if I can replace the heavy cream/ heavy whipping cream with milk. Thank you!
Hi Sam! Yes you can replace it with milk. I am so sorry for my late response. I’ve been traveling in Japan and I couldn’t write you sooner. 🙁
Made this today, added some coconut milk to the filling and egg wash. Perfect. Found a finely chopped sesame seed and nori blend with a sconce of sugar for the garnish. Quite lovely, thank you.
Hi Josh! Hmm sounds delicious! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Hi Nami. Do you think white yams can be used instead of sweet potato?
Hi Annie! I’m sorry but I had never had white yams before… so I don’t know if they can be sweet enough for “dessert”. If you end up giving it a try, let us know!
Hi Nami, do you know if this can be frozen after baked? Or what would be the best way to store it so it doesn’t go bad or stale? I want to bake the two pies at once but want to save one to have a few days later. What would be your suggestion? Thanks!
Hi Emily! This can be beautifully frozen! I usually pop back in the oven while frozen to reheat. Place the pie on the baking sheet or pizza stone lined with parchment paper and bottom doesn’t get soggy. Don’t defrost first. Enjoy!
Thanks for the response! So just to clarify, you freeze the completely baked pastry and directly pop back into the oven as frozen for another 20-25 min at 400F to reheat..is that correct?
400F is a bit too high. It’s alresdy cooked/baked and you just need to reheat. So I usually bake at 350F for 10-15 mins depending on the size. Touch (just a quick touch) and see if it looks flaky and crisp. 🙂