Sweet Chef Southern Styles Bakery Sweet Chef Southern Styles ...

In New York City, different immigrant groups are regularly credited for their lasting contributions to local cuisine. Whether bagels, pizza or pastrami, foods transplanted from foreign lands have been embraced to such a degree that they almost seem to have originated here.

A reversal of this formula is what makes Amadou Diakite, a baker of Southern-style pies and cakes, so unusual. Rather than cooking in the manner of his native Ivory Coast, the 39-year-old has made his contribution by adapting the traditions of his Harlem neighbors. He churns out such regional American classics as banana pudding and peach cobbler, caramel pecan coconut and red velvet cakes, and sweet potato, key lime and pecan pies, even though where he comes from, no such thing as "pie" exists.

"Back home," explains Diakite, "you have puree, paste, it's like a pudding. Here, you have pie."

His first exposure to such desserts was at a Brooklyn restaurant where he was a dishwasher and an occasional assistant to the pastry chef. The story goes that, using the skills he acquired there, he baked a birthday cake for a young neighbor. It was such a hit that it spawned the word of mouth that was to become the basis for his business.

Since then, much of what Diakite has learned has come in the form of "tips" from opinionated but ultimately helpful customers. He credits one woman from the Florida Keys with teaching him the recipe that he now uses for his key lime pie. Another woman who runs a Harlem cafe personally crashed his kitchen to instruct him on making bean pie, which according to Diakite is a customary dessert of the Nation of Islam. Upon reflection, he notes, "Some tastes were similar to back home. Potato, flour, bean, lime, all those things."

He counts the well-respected soul food eateries Amy Ruth's and Mamie's Spoonbread among his clients, which speaks of the level of authenticity that he has achieved with his baking. Sweet Chef Southern Styles pies are also sold at West Side Market and Fairway.

Diakite caters to all of his patrons from a small kitchen located behind his cozy Washington Heights storefront, which is as charming as it is modest. The tarnish of age on the equipment and homey touches?empty cake pans stacked in a pyramid shape like a miniature shrine, odd whisks in different sizes hanging from the wall?give the space an endearing antique beauty.

As one might expect, everything is made from scratch. For the sweet potato pie, the strongest of his selections, fresh sweet potatoes are boiled, peeled and pureed. "Starting from the crust, all the way to the top," says Diakite. "We just need the pans." When a buzzer goes off, Diakite picks up a pair of well-worn potholders. He pulls the puffy orange pies, one by one, out of the oven. Their surfaces are glossy, still holding the shape that the filling took when it was poured into the pan.

"I do what customers like," says Diakite. "And that's what makes me like this."