Pecan Pie
Pecan Pie
Pâte Sablée (rich pie crust with sugar)
(for a standard 9″ pie plate)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour (spoon the flour into the measuring cup)
- 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 stick cold butter, cut in to 8 pieces or 16 pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
- 4 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
You can mix the crust by hand, placing the flour and sugar in a large heavy bowl, cutting the cold butter into 16 pieces dropping them over the flour mixture, then pressing the pieces of butter with the flour mixture together until there are only crumbs are about the size of oats, then make a well and pour in the egg beaten with the water. Or you can use a food processor. Place flour, sugar, pieces of butter and egg yolk in a food processor and pulse until it’s small crumbs about the size of oats. With the processor still running, add the water and stop just before the dough forms a ball.
Pour the dough out on to a piece of plastic wrap. Mold it into a 6″ disk, wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to halfway between 1/8″ and 1/4″ in thickness and place into a 9″ pie plate molding it to the sides without stretching the dough so it won’t shrink when it’s baked. Trim 1/2 inch from the edge of the pie plate, fold the pastry under to make a thicker edge, then flute the edges.
Note: To keep the crust from getting too brown, make a foil collar (see pumpkin pie) and wrap it around the edges. Doing it this way works better than the store-bought pie protectors. To make a collar, you will need 4 3″ pieces of foil. Attach them together in to a long strip by folding the ends together. Then shape the strip in a C shape to enclose the crust. Wrap the collar around the crust, fold the two ends (you may have to tear off 3 inches to make it the right size) and mold into place. If you normally brush milk on your crust, don’t as the wet crust can stick to the foil.
Filling
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 cup dark corn syrup or maple syrup
- whole pecans
Instructions
Place all ingredients except the whole pecans in a bowl and whisk together until well blended. Pour into the crust and bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place the whole pecans on the top. Return to oven, turn the heat down to 325 degrees and bake another 35-40 minutes or until puffy and center is firm. You can test this by shaking the oven rack. The pie will jiggle back and forth a little when it’s done. If the center jiggles a lot, bake a little longer.
Cool. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Pour the cream into the mixer bowl. Whip for several minutes until peaks are starting to form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until the cream changes from very soft looking to stiff, before it starts to become butter. At this perfect point the whipping cream will have a very buttery taste and it will hold for more than a day before it starts to separate.
