With Thanksgiving around the corner the internet has been flooded with recipes for pies. I haven't made a pie in months so I thought the time had come to make a pecan pie. When I saw Danielle Alvarez's recipe for her bourbon and maple pecan pie I thought I'd give it a try.
I used Danielle's recipe as a starting point but then made a few changes along the way. I browned the butter for the filling as per the recipe then I pre-baked the tart shell, something I don't normally do. I was interested to see whether this extra step would make a difference to the finished tart.
I used my favourite vintage metal pie plate and as the pie plate is deeper than a flan tin, it holds a little more filling so I adjusted the quantities. There also isn't any bourbon in my house so I used what I had on hand which was rum.
I kept my fingers crossed that the pecan pie would turn out okay because I was taking it to a friend's house for dessert.
Here's the recipe for you which makes a 23cm/9 inch pie. For all my
recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60 g eggs.
My oven is a conventional oven so if you have a fan-forced oven you may need to
reduce the temperature by 20°C.
Rum and Maple Pecan Pie
Pastry
170g
plain flour
2
tsp caster sugar
¼
tsp table salt
110g
cold unsalted butter, chopped
2 - 4
tbs ice cold water
Filling
200g
pecans
70g
unsalted butter
2/3 cup white or brown sugar or a mixture of both
1
tbs cornflour or plain flour
Pinch
salt
1
tsp vanilla
2
tbs rum
¾
cup maple or corn syrup
3
eggs
Pastry
Combine
the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and process until
the butter is pea sized. Gradually add sufficient water until a dough just
starts to forms around the blade. Shape the dough into a rectangle, wrap in
plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll
the pastry out thinly to fit a 20-23 cm pie plate, cut off excess pastry
leaving a 1 cm overhang and reserving the trimmings. Fold the overhang back
under itself and crimp the edges. Return the pie to the fridge for another 10
minutes.
Preheat
the oven to 180°C. Place a large piece of baking paper onto the pastry shell and
cover with pie weights, dried beans or rice. Place the pie on a baking sheet
and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges start to becomes golden. Remove
the baking paper and the pie weights and return the pie to the oven for a
further 10-20 minutes until the case is golden brown.
If
your base is puffing up, poke a few holes in it using a fork. Remove the pastry
case from the oven and allow it to cool. If you see any cracks or holes
(including ones you made with a fork), press a small piece of the reserved pie
dough to seal it shut. This step can be done a day or two ahead.
Filling
Preheat
the oven to 180°C. Divide the pecans into two - 125g for the filling and 75g
for the topping. Toast the 125g pecans in the preheated oven for approximately
10 minutes. Allow to cool before roughly chopping.
While
the pecans are cooling, place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over a medium
heat until the butter is deeply caramelized and smells nutty. Allow the butter
to cool a little.
In
a mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, cornflour, salt, vanilla, rum, maple
syrup and the eggs. When the butter has cooled, measure out 3 tbs of browned
butter, add it to the remaining ingredients then stir in the chopped toasted
pecans.
Place
the par baked pastry case onto a baking tray. Pour the mixture carefully into
the pastry case then arrange the remaining pecans decoratively on the top. Place
the tray on the centre rack then bake the pie for 45 minutes at 180°C or until
the filling is well browned, slightly puffed and just set.
Remove
the pie from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before
serving to allow the filling to set. Serve with unsweetened whipped cream.
Would I make this pie again? Probably not. I've been making pecan pies for years and I prefer the flavour of pecan pie made with corn syrup. I guess it's the taste of the familiar. The addition of flour set the filling a little too much for my liking. I also found the addition of alcohol overpowered all the other flavours. The pie was well baked though with no hint of a soggy crust so in the future I might pre-bake the pastry shell.
See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.
Bye for now,
Jillian
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