Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving is approaching and let it be known that it is my favorite holiday. I love to eat- love, love, love, to eat- and my family has some of the best homecooks out there, so the holiday has always been especially good to me. Every year I commit to making more pies than I can and a vegetable dish. I always make apple pie because that is my seasonal favorite, but since perfecting my recipe for pecan pie I have to say there is a close contender. I will always be partial to fruit pies; I love cherry pie. I love the balance of the acidity and sweetness. I love the contrast of the juiciness of the fruit and crispness of the crust. Pecan pie is a lot more like candy and completely incomparable to the deliciousness of a fruit pie. I find that the secret is salt, as it is in most things. Everybody at thanksgiving the last two years said this was the best pecan pie they had ever had, and they don’t even like pecan pie.

Growing up, all that I knew about pecan pie was that it was my dad’s favorite, and every year my mother made it for him in place of birthday cake. I had never actually tried pecan pie until it was my turn to make it for my dad’s birthday a few years back. I was still just a bit clumsy in the kitchen and it was okay, at best. I wasn’t partial to how eggy it was and felt like it was lacking a certain something that it’s reputation had promised. I have since set out with the simple goal of making a better pecan pie. I made a really good one once and forgot to write down how I did it, leaving me to scramble the next year to match it’s greatness from my memory and browsing history alone. The recipe, as it is now, is a combination of recipes I’ve found online and edits I’ve added out of trial and necessity.

Pecan Pie

Total time: 90 minutes, active time 30 minutes

Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

For the filling:

2 cups chopped pecans

20 or so pecan halves for topping

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

For the crust:

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into cubes

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

about 3 tbsp ice water

Method:

Make the crust:

preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place flour, butter, and salt into a big mixing bowl (preferably a metal one as it will get colder faster if you put it in the fridge to cool down the ingredients)

I prefer to use a pastry blender to break down the butter into smaller pieces before going in with my hands; this keeps the ingredients from getting too warm too quick. Once the butter has broken down to pieces about the size of cheerios, I put the pastry blender aside and use my hands to break the butter up into much smaller pieces. I do this by rubbing the pieces of butter in between my thumb and fingers as to flake the butter into tiny bits. Ideally, you want about half the mixture to resemble a course meal texture and the other half to have little bits of butter that are about the size of peas. Betty Crocker says the meal texture makes for tenderness and the pea sized bits of butter make for flakiness. 

Once your mixture has arrived at the right texture, sprinkle cold water over it 1 tbsp at a time, gently mixing with your hands or a fork until the dough is lightly moist and begins to stick to itself. When you mix, try not to squeeze or be aggressive; be gentle and touch it as little as possible.

Gather the dough at the bottom of the bowl and press it together to form a disc that is about 2 inches thick. (I used to believe in chilling the dough. Now I believe that if you're going to use it straight away, don't bother, it's easier to roll out dough at just below room temperature.)

Roll the dough into a large round that is about 1/8 inch thick. Place the rolled out dough into a 9 inch pie pan. Fit the dough to the pan. Set aside.

Make the filling:

Combine chopped pecans, eggs, both sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, melted butter and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Arrange pecan halves decoratively on top.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.