Sweet Potato Haupia
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A sweet oat graham crust topped with sweet potato pie filling finished off with vanilla coconut haupia make this Sweet Potato Haupia a unique and delicious fall dessert.
My brother and his wife have taken to baking every week since they’ve been working from home. He often sends me photos of his bakes. A few weeks ago he sent me a photo of his Lime Haupia.
I’d never heard of Haupia before so I had to look it up. Haupia is a traditional coconut based Hawaiian dessert. It sounded interesting and when my brother came down to visit a few weeks ago we decided to make it.
Sadly, we didn’t get around to making it because we were having too much fun visiting. He left some of the ingredients here so later on that week I tried my hand at it myself. Since I am participating in Apple and Fall Flavors week I wanted to use sweet potatoes instead of the lime.
Originally I was going to use regular graham crackers but Nairn’s sent me some awesome looking Ginger Oat Grahams and I thought the ginger would be the perfect compliment for my sweet potato so I used those for my base. I pulverized them in my food processor and made a graham crust out of them.
Instead of the lime curd I went with sweet potato pie curd. Melissa’s Produce sent me the biggest sweet potatoes you’ve ever seen. I steamed them then processed them until they were smooth. Then I cooked them with Dixie Crystals sugar, eggs, and cinnamon to give it a little spice.
The curd thickened up nicely and I poured it over top of the graham crust and froze it while I made the Haupia. I’m going to be honest here; I was a little intimidated by the haupia because it’s supposed to take on a gelatin quality with only the use of cornstarch. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work but I gave it a shot.
The haupia is made with the following ingredients:
- coconut milk
- cornstarch
- granulated sugar
- water
- vanilla bean paste
Pretty much all of the haupia ingredients except the vanilla bean paste are put into a saucepan and simmered until thick. After removing from heat the Taylor and Colledge Vanilla Bean Paste is stirred in. This is so the flavor remains strong within the haupia. Then the haupia is poured over top of the sweet potato curd and everything is refrigerated for at least two hours.
When it’s time to serve you simply cut it into small squares and serve with a drizzle of caramel or a sprinkle of cinnamon. I was so interested to see what it tasted like. It’s really hard to describe the flavors but it’s like fall in a small square dessert. The graham crust is sweet and crunchy while the sweet potato is spiced and smooth then the haupia is cool and light in flavor with a vanilla finish.
It doesn’t sound like these flavors would work together but they totally do. It’s really a unique dessert that would be great served at any fall celebration.
Sweet Potato Haupia
Ingredients
For the graham crust:
- 3 small packages Nairn's Stem Ginger Oat Grahams or 3/4 cup of graham crackers
- 1/4 c. Dixie Crystals sugar
- 4 Tablespoon melted butter
For the Sweet Potato Curd:
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 c. Dixie Crystals sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons butter
For the Haupia:
- 1 can 14 oz full fat coconut milk
- 5 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 5 T. Dixie Crystals sugar
- 3/4 c. water
- 1/2 teaspoon Taylor and Colledge vanilla paste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- To make the crust place the oat grahams and sugar in a food processor and pulse until it turns into crumbs.
- Pour into a bowl and add the melted butter. Mix well.
- Press into the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
- To make the sweet potato curd peel your sweet potato and cut into one inch chunks.
- Either boil the chunks in boiling water for 10 minutes or steam for 6-8 minutes or until soft.
- Place the sweet potato in a food processor and process until pureed.
- Combine the sweet potato puree, eggs, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir frequently until the mixture begins to simmer. Reduce heat to low and stir constantly until mixture has thicken and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
- Pour mixture over top of the graham cracker crust and put in the freezer while you make your haupia.
- Place the coconut milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently.
- Meanwhile, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl. Add the water and whisk until combined.
- When the coconut milk just starts to summer add the sugar and cornstarch mix and whisk.
- Keep whisking until the mixture thickens. It will begin sticking to the whisk. This will take anywhere between 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla paste.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes then pour over top of the sweet potato curd.
- Allow to cool on the counter for 10 minutes then refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Thursday Fall Recipes
- Air Fryer Butternut Squash Fries with Parmesan Garlic Dipping Sauce by Big Bears Wife
- Apple Ginger Oat Tassies by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Apple Sidecar Cocktail by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Butternut Squash & Pear Risotto by Sweet Beginnings
- Caramelized Pear Baked Oatmeal by Frugal & Fit
- Chocolate Caramel Affogato by That Recipe
- Easy Yam Souffle by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Maple Cake with Maple Glaze by Eat Move Make
- Make The Perfect Cup of Apple Cider Hot Tea by Intelligent Domestications
- Pickled Cabbage by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Sweet Potato and Parsnip by Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Slow Cooker Loaded Potatoes by Blogghetti
- Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls by Cookaholic Wife
- Sweet Potato Haupia by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
That sounds so interesting and different. I never would have thought to make a dessert with the sweet potatoes. Yum!
I’d never heard of haupia either! This sounds amazing!
This dessert sounds amazing and the flavor combination has peaked my interest.
I’ve never heard of Haupia either and I have never tried sweet potato pie. This recipe will give me two new experiences.