Well, here's the pecan pie I've decided to try this year. I made a few modifications, basically following (most of) the ingredients & their quantities from
this recipe and combining it with suggestions from the New Best Recipe Cookbook I have. It's essentially the same pie I made last year (which was delicious), but this time I'm trying to bring dark chocolate & Maple syrup into the pie. If you want a more traditional pie, leave out the chocolate and replace the 3/8 C of Maple syrup with an equal quantity of corn syrup. The bourbon flavor is certainly pronounced in this recipe, so if that's not for your palate decrease the amount to 2 Tbsp, or leave it out altogether (although I have to admit the flavor it does add is delicious; last year, I used Pappy Van Winkle's 20yo last time around, this year I'll stick with something cheaper but still tasty, e.g. Elijah Craig or Eagle Rare).
dark chocolate pecan pie
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 C Pecan halves, toasted for 7 minutes and coarsely chopped
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 oz. Dark chocolate
- 1 C Dark brown sugar, tightly packed
- 3/8 C Maple syrup
- 3/8 C light corn syrup
- 3 Large eggs
- 0.25 Tsp. salt
- 1 Tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp Bourbon
- 9 inch pie crust (e.g Pillsbury, or whatever...or make your own)
Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle section, preheat oven to 375˚F. Cover pie crust with foil, and bake for ~25 minutes, remove foil and bake for additional 5 minutes. Make filling during this time.
2. Add pecans during last 5-6 minutes and toast. Cool, then chop coarsely.
3. Filling: melt butter & chocolate in a bowl placed in a skillet with water warmed to a simmmer (e.g. a water bath), remove from heat and, then mix well with the brown sugar & salt. Beat eggs into the mix and once incorporated add the corn syrup, maple syrup, bourbon, and vanilla extract. Return bowl to skillet, stir and heat until mixture is ~130˚F. Remove from heat and stir in pecans.
4. Decrease oven temperature to 275˚F once pie shell is out of oven, and move rack to middle position of oven. Pour in pecan mixture.
5. Bake until pie is set & soft (should yield gently when center is pressed with the back of a spoon, around 50 to 60 minutes. Cool completely, around 3 to 4 hours.
6. When serving, if you want the pie to be warm (assuming it was made the night before, or at least cooled completely to allow it to set), heat it in an oven at 250˚F for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with freshly made whipped cream.