Pecan Pie

Making the shortcrust pastry

1. Homemade pecan pie is easy to make; you can treat it much like a quiche and simply swap the filling. These amounts make a pie 21-22 cm across.

   

   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.

2. Make the dough. Take the butter out of the fridge ahead of time so it softens. Sift 2 cups of flour (260 g) 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, and another 1 tbsp if the dough stays dry. Knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and soft. If needed, wet your palms with water as you knead.

   

3. Roll the finished dough into a ball and chill it briefly in the fridge, about 20 mins.

4. Line the pan with the dough. 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. Put the pan in the fridge while you make the filling.

   

   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.

Making the pecan pie filling

1. Light or dark corn syrup both work. Light, clear corn syrup is sweet but not cloying, so it’s best to add sugar. Brown sugar also darkens the filling a little. Dark corn syrup may be sweeter, and you can skip the sugar. Many recipes use maple syrup instead, but it’s runnier, so you’ll need a thickener: add a little flour or cornstarch to the filling.

2. Beat the eggs with the sugar. Crack the eggs into the mixer bowl, add 50 g of brown sugar and beat with the mixer.

   

   Ideally, the sugar should dissolve completely.

3. Add the vanilla, syrup and butter. Add the liquid vanilla extract and 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 also add cinnamon and nutmeg to the filling to taste, so give it a try.

   

4. Prepare the pecans and add them to the filling. Buy pecans in the store just for one bake, since they tend to go rancid if kept too long. You can lightly toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until they smell nutty. Set aside a few whole pecans to decorate the pie before baking. Roughly chop the remaining pecans into large pieces with a knife, add them to the liquid filling and stir with a spatula.

   

6. Pour the filling into the pan. 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.

   

How to bake pecan pie

1. Preheat the oven to 180-190°C and let it heat through well. Then put the pecan pie in the oven.

2. Bake for about 1 hour, until the crust is baked through and the filling has set. Go by how much the surface of the filling wobbles: give the pan a gentle shake, and a finished filling barely moves. 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.

   

Serving

1. Take the finished pie out of the oven and let it cool for about 1 hour, until just slightly warm. The filling usually rises a little during baking, then sinks as it cools. The pie comes out easily even from a regular pan. Transfer it to a plate or a small wooden pizza board for serving and carefully cut it into slices with a very sharp knife.

   

2. Serve the pie slightly warm. If you like, top each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and drizzle with chocolate sauce.