# Making a sweet potato pie from a marshmallow sweet potato dish?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-sweet-potato-pie-from-a-marshmallow-sweet-potato-dish/845004>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 17, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-sweet-potato-pie-from-a-marshmallow-sweet-potato-dish/845004 "2019-12-17T19:33:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-sweet-potato-pie-from-a-marshmallow-sweet-potato-dish/845004/1 "2019-12-17T19:33:27Z")

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We’re having a local upscale grocery provide the meal, which we will pick up the day before. Strict no substitution policy.  
We will get “3 pounds of candied yams with marshmallow topping.” Ick. Can I take that dish, beat it up, add eggs or whatever and turn it into a sweet potato pie? And yes, I realize yams are not sweet potatoes, but whatever.

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-sweet-potato-pie-from-a-marshmallow-sweet-potato-dish/845004/2 "2019-12-17T19:57:53Z")

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My mom’s sweet potato pie is essentially candied yams with marshmallow topping (the sweet potatoes are mixed with eggs, brown sugar, etc.). What is the difference between that and the sweet potato pie that you would like to make?

In the U.S. yam is just another word for sweet potato. In other parts of the world, there is an entirely separate starchy vegetable that is called yam.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-sweet-potato-pie-from-a-marshmallow-sweet-potato-dish/845004/3 "2019-12-19T03:34:52Z")

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You can sometimes get actual yams at American grocery stores, but yeah, “candied yams” means sweet potatoes.

And put it in a crust if you’d like, but it’s the same dish.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-sweet-potato-pie-from-a-marshmallow-sweet-potato-dish/845004/4 "2019-12-19T06:02:01Z")

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> [@DummyGladHands](#):
>
> We’re having a local upscale grocery provide the meal, which we will pick up the day before. Strict no substitution policy.
> 
> We will get “3 pounds of candied yams with marshmallow topping.” Ick. Can I take that dish, beat it up, add eggs or whatever and turn it into a sweet potato pie? And yes, I realize yams are not sweet potatoes, but whatever.

Yes, you can do exactly that - mix in eggs, and a little liquid: 1/2 & 1/2 or milk or evaporated milk, and put in a pie crust and bake.

Put a meringue topping on it and brown it, and you’ve got something close to, but better than, the marshmallow topping.