Thankful for Pecan Pie

I’ve never particularly liked pecan pies; they seem to heavy and sweet. I prefer a tart fruit pie, especially a smooth, strong lemon. But I was determined to learn how to make a good pecan pie, because John likes them. Every so often I’d try another recipe, and every time I’d strike out. John was polite, but I could detect a certain glumness. Those pies just weren’t that good.

Have you ever tried to learn how to make something that you don’t actually like? I found it hard because I didn’t have a vision in my mind to guide me. All I had was John’s cautious comments. It needed to be more “caramelized”, he said. Caramelized? As in onions?

After a few half-hearted attempts over the years, I finally decided this was the year to figure this mystery out. I looked at dozens of recipes, until I understood the main ways in which they differed. I learned why corn syrup is often used – aside from being cheaper than maple syrup, it also thickens better. I thought about what John tends to like and not like. (Bourbon? No.) And I realized that the caramel flavor he was talking about is browned butter. Not just lightly browned, but decidedly browned, just shy of almost burnt.

To get that caramelization, I was going to need to use one of the recipes that included cooking some of the ingredients in a pan on the stove prior to putting them into the pie shell. What a nuisance! Although to be fair, my favorite lemon pie also involves a lot of stirring in a saucepan prior to putting it into the pie shell. You can’t always just dump some raw chopped fruit and sugar into a pie crust and call it good! This lemon pie is an older picture from a couple of Christmases ago. Mmmm, now I want to make a lemon pie.

I ended up writing my own pecan pie recipe, borrowing ideas from multiple other recipes. And hallelujah, it worked! I made two 7″ tarts and they were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t take a close-up of the amazing pecan tarts, but you can see one of them hiding behind the turkey next to the sweet potatoes.

This year we bought a lot of our meal already prepared from Whole Foods. I really liked not having to deal with a raw bird. But we tended to prefer our own side dishes. Maybe next year I can look into getting just the roasted turkey and doing the rest of it myself.

Here’s Biska, lying down in “begging” mode. I can’t blame her for wanting some of all that!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Maple Pecan Pie

For two 7” tarts or one 10” pie

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

  • ⅓ cup butter
  • ¼  cup maple syrup 
  • ¼ cup dark corn syrup
  • ½  cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 ¼  cup pecans

CRUST INGREDIENTS:

10” crust (or two 7” crusts)

  • 1 ½ cup flour
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup shortening
  • ½ cup cold water

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Pre-cook the butter and syrup: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook until the foam subsides and the butter solids turn brown. Add the maple syrup to the pan and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture is somewhat reduced. Remove from heat, and let cool for at least 10 minutes. 
  • Crust: to make the pie crust, cut the shortening into the flour and salt with a pastry blender. Add cold water until it is just wet enough to form a ball.
  • Roll crust out on a floured board, and wrapping the crust partially around the rolling pin, gently lift and lower the crust into the tart pans or pie pan. Flute the edges.
  • Pre-cook the pie crusts with something set on top of them so they don’t puff up while cooking ( I set cookie cutters on the crust; anything fairly light that can handle the oven heat will work). Pre-cook crusts until set but not yet browning, about 15 minutes.
  • Make rest of the filling: Whisk eggs, add vanilla, salt, dark corn syrup and brown sugar.
  • Add the whisked eggs mixture to the cooled syrup mixture and stir. 
  • Assembly: Layer the pecans on top of the pre-cooked crust(s). Carefully pour the filling mixture on top of the pecans. 
  • Bake at 350º for 40 minutes for 2 tarts, 50 minutes for a full sized pie, or until the top is brown and the filling doesn’t jiggle.

To send me a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.