Pecan pie with corn syrup on shortcrust pastry

Step-by-step recipe

1. Homemade pecan pie is easy to make; you can treat it much like a quiche and simply swap the filling. Buy pecans in the store just for one bake, since they tend to go rancid if kept too long. Light or dark corn syrup both work. Many recipes use maple syrup instead, but it's runnier, so you'll need a thickener. These amounts make a pie 21-22 cm across.
   
2. Making the shortcrust pastry
3. To keep the pie from crumbling, add a little cold water and egg yolks to the dough. A mixer with dough hooks makes kneading easy. Take the butter out of the fridge ahead of time so it softens. Sift 2 cups of flour and add a pinch of salt. Chop the butter with a knife and add it to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour, add the two egg yolks and rub together again. Add 1 tbsp of ice-cold water. Knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and soft. If needed, wet your palms with water as you knead.
   
4. Roll the finished dough into a ball and chill it briefly in the fridge. Prepare a pie pan: we use a 21 cm round pan with a removable side. Press the dough out by hand or roll it into a 5 mm thick sheet and line the bottom of the pan, building up a rim 3.5-4 cm high. Crimp the edge and prick the bottom with a fork in a few places.
   
5. Making the pecan pie filling
6. Crack the eggs into the mixer bowl and add 50 g of brown sugar. Light, clear corn syrup is sweet but not cloying, so it's best to add sugar. Brown sugar also darkens the filling a little. If you're using dark corn syrup, it may be sweeter, and you can skip the sugar. Beat the eggs and sugar with the mixer, then add the liquid vanilla extract.
   
7. Ideally, the sugar should dissolve completely. Pour in the corn syrup: it's quite thick and stretches like honey. Melt a knob of butter in the microwave without letting it get hot, and add it to the filling. Gently mix everything together. You can lightly toast the pecans in a dry skillet. Set aside a few whole pecans to decorate the pie before baking.
   
8. Roughly chop the remaining pecans into large pieces with a knife. Add them to the liquid filling and stir with a spatula. Take the pan with the pastry out of the fridge and pour in the pecan filling, spreading it from edge to edge. The filling rises a little as it bakes, so leave room for it. Ideally the rim should sit well above the filling, but it's not critical. Arrange the reserved pecans on top of the filling.
   
9. How to bake pecan pie
10. Quite often the shortcrust base is put in the oven for a short time (10-15 mins) before the filling goes in. This is said to keep the liquid filling from leaking through the crust. If the dough is at least 5 mm thick, you don't need to. Preheat the oven to 180-190°C and let it heat through well. Then put the pecan pie in the oven.
    
11. Usually 1 hour is enough for the crust to bake through and the filling to set. Go by how much the surface of the filling wobbles. By the way, it stays liquid for a very long time, and it may seem it will never set. Don't worry: there are three eggs in the filling, so even water would set. Check with a toothpick, for example. You can extend the baking time; the crust can bake for up to an hour and a half without burning. Just keep an eye on the pecans on top so they don't scorch.
    
12. How to serve pecan pie
13. Take the finished pie out of the oven and let it cool. It comes out easily even from a regular pan. Transfer the pie to a plate or a small wooden pizza board for serving. Carefully cut it into slices with a very sharp knife. The filling usually rises a little during baking, then sinks as it cools. Serve the pie slightly warm.
    
14. If you like, top each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and drizzle with chocolate sauce. You can also add cinnamon and nutmeg to the filling to taste, so give it a try. If you use maple syrup, add a little flour or cornstarch to the filling to thicken it.