Happy Thanksgiving! Pecan Pie

 

I've never made a pecan pie.  It's not a pie I've ever especially liked, finding it far too sweet and cloying, even though there are so many recipes out there that promise they're not too sweet.  And then there are recipes that include chocolate, and recipes that include bourbon, all of which sound delicious.  So I've been tempted, but have never tried until now.  For some reason, I wanted pecan pie with my Thanksgiving dinner.

I'm still working on perfecting my half-size pie technique; I got pretty close with this one.  The original recipe is for a 9.5-inch pie.  (He doesn't specify deep-dish, but it looked about 1.5-inches deep.)  I cut the quantities in half and baked it in a 7¾-inch fairly shallow pie pan from Baker's Square.  Here's what I used:

pre-baked* 7 to 8-inch pie crust
1 cup pecan halves, toasted
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
1 tablespoon milk heavy cream
1½ tablespoons flour
1½ large eggs

In a small pan over moderate heat, melt the butter, then add the brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup, salt, vanilla, cream, and flour. Whisk to combine then allow to cook until it comes to a full boil, which should take only a minute or two. Immediately remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Slowly add about 1/2 cup of the syrup, a little at a time, into the eggs, whisking constantly. The rest of the syrup can be added more quickly, still whisking constantly. When thoroughly combined, pour over the pecans in the pie crust. Make sure none of the pecans are still dry on any surface. Bake at 350 F. for about 35 minutes, or until crisp on top and the filling is set. 

*I'm still not convinced that pre-baking a pie crust is necessary, or even a good thing, even for a liquid filling.  Typically, I never even par-bake the crust for pumpkin pie, and it's fine.  (I'm using "pre-baked" for a crust that is fully baked, which takes at least 20 minutes, while "par-baked" is one that's been baked for only about 10 minutes prior to filling.)  Who's really noticing whether the bottom of the crust is "flaky"?!  I think it's one of those ego things more than anything else.  As long as the crust isn't sodden and mushy, it's fine.  But every time I pre-bake a crust fully, it's tough and really difficult to cut through, and crunchy instead of crisp.  And no matter how much I freeze the shell before baking, or how well I've filled it with pie weights, I still end up with a misshapen, shrunken crust, no matter how long it's been in the oven.  So for now, I'm still not a fan, but I keep trying.  I should explore more the length of time the crust is baked prior to filling, as that can vary widely.  (This pumpkin pie called for par-baking the crust for only 12 minutes, while this coconut pie called for a crust that pre-baked for 25 minutes.)

Another consideration is the egg wash.  I pre-baked this crust, but I didn't use pie weights.  Instead, I docked the dough.  But then I gave the crust a thorough eggwhite wash, which stupidly fully sealed all the docking.  I intentionally filled the holes because I didn't want any pie filling to seep through, but that defeated the whole point of docking the dough.  NOTE:  I should have docked it, baked it, egg-washed it, then put it back into the oven just long enough to set the egg wash.  A test for another time.

This recipe was challenging because you have to follow the video on YouTube in order to get the directions.  (Only the ingredient list is given on his blog.)  Consequently, I messed up and cooked the syrup for too long, which made it very thick.  This might have affected the baking time, causing the pie to be set sooner than it otherwise would.  (It was still quite wobbly at 25 minutes, so I gave it another 10.  The full recipe calls for 40-45 minutes.)  It didn't adversely affect the finished product, though, other than it was pretty sticky.  And to that end, I probably could get away with using 2 whole eggs instead of fussing with a half egg.  (I used one extra large egg, plus the leftover egg white from the pastry wash and half of that egg yolk.)  Or would that make it too firm?

I questioned whether that little bit of bourbon really affected the flavor.  I didn't think so on the first two pieces, but I think I detected it when I was having a small piece early one morning.  (Per my reaction to the bourbon cream for these brown butter pumpkin pancakes, apparently I am especially sensitive to bourbon first thing in the morning.  Imagine that.)

Conclusion:  Utterly delicious.  Still a bit sweet (and perhaps a bit too salty), but okay in small servings.  (I found I enjoyed it less and less after about 5 or 6 bites.)  Some people successfully reduced the sugar, and one person recommended substituting some of the sugar for grade B maple syrup, which he deemed less sweet than sugar.  I also wonder how browned butter would fair.  That would be worth trying.  I would make this again.

Recipe:  Pecan Pie via Food Wishes