Sensational Sinful Pecan Pie

✅ INGREDIENTS

Pie Dough

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces and frozen
• 4 tablespoons (2 oz) chilled cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and frozen [I have made pie with all butter and it also turns out good]

Filling

• 1 heaping cup chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3 large eggs, plus 2 large yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

✅ INSTRUCTIONS

1. For Pie Dough:

(i) Have ready 3 tablespoons ice water. Mix flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add butter, break up butter pieces with fingers and coat with the flour mixture. Pule 4 times, 1 long second each time. Add cream cheese and shortening to flour mixture, toss to coat. Pulse another 4 or 5 times, 1 long second each time, until the fats are pea and fine gravel size. Dump mixture into a medium bowl. Add ice water and stir into mixture with a rubber spatula till dough clumps form. Press clumps together with palm of hand to form a cohesive ball. Press down on ball to gather remaining scraps, dipping fingertips in water and adding droplets of water to bottom of bowl if scraps refuse to adhere.

(ii) Wrap ball in plastic, then press down to form a thick disc. Refrigerate for atleast 1 hour (Dough can be refrigerated for upto 2 days).

(iii) Set down dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll out into an approx 14 inch circle. Fold dough in half and set 9 inch pie plate right next to folded dough. Quickly lift dough into pie plate and unfold. Lift edge of dough with one hand and press dough into pan with other hand so that dough is not stretched in any way. Trim dough all around to 1/2 inch beyond pan lip. Roll overhanging dough under with fingertips so that it is flush with pan lip. Flute edge all around. Set pie shell in freezer for atleast 1 hour. [Recipe can be doubled and one half of the dough wrapped in plastic and frozen for upto one month].

(iv) Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 F. Line pie shell with a sheet of heavy duty foil and fill with weights [couple of cups of screws, nuts, bolts, dry beans or rice can be used]. bake until fluting has lost its raw appearance and has started to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Remove foil, along with weights, and return pie to oven until bottom of the crust loses its raw appearance and begins to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven, reduce oven temperature to 300F once pie shell has baked.

2. For Filling: Toast pecans in a pie plate in oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Pour nuts into pie shell and reduce oven temperature to 250F.

3. Meanwhile, heat cornstarch and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until thick, set aside. Heat brown sugar and corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until warm and the sugar has almost dissolved. Whisk eggs, yolks, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk warm sugar mixture into eggs. Return mixture to heatproof bowl; whisk in butter, then whisk in warm cornstarch mixture. Heat, stirring frequently, until warm.

4. Adjust oven rack to middle position and set pie shell on oven rack. Pour warm filling into shell. Bake until pie just sets, 40-45 minutes. Cool to room temperature and serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzle caramel sauce on top.

I am a big fan of Pam Anderson ... And please don't take me wrong. She is not your breathtaking supermodel but a short and (ex)stout woman who was my first teacher to learn American cooking. During my early unemployed years in North America, her book - The Perfect Recipe was Godsend to me. As the name suggests, this was about cooking with the perfect recipe and getting it right everytime. It also included a detailed description of how her recipes came about to be. There was a reason for every ingredient and it's quantity in the recipe. This helped me to build fundamental understanding of some key concepts in cooking especially baking. I will recommend this book to anyone to is planning to foray into American cooking or is interested in the science behind baking.

When I read Pam's second book "Cook Smart - Perfect Recipes Everyday", it was just as brilliant! It had this recipe for Pecan Pie which seemed easy yet foolproof. I have made this recipe a few times now and it is just as delicious every time. I made this recipe again a few weeks back when I had a few guests over at my place. I am sharing it with you all to experiment and enjoy.

I am also a firm believer in "A good crust makes a good pie .... ". Keeping that in mind, I have given a detailed explanation of how to make the crust. Please note that I did not have shortening on hand this time around so I ended up making an all-butter crust. But a combination of butter and shortening makes a lot of difference to the crust so I will encourage you to follow the exact recipe for best results.

Jyotsna

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About Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera

Hey, I'm Perera! I will try to give you technology reviews(mobile,gadgets,smart watch & other technology things), Automobiles, News and entertainment for built up your knowledge.