I follow a lot of American food blogs and I am always inspired this time of year. Thanksgiving is time for a huge feast with family and friends and autumn brings with it some of the best produce of the year. I love the way that autumn produce is brought together to create one big celebratory dinner. I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but have been to a few dinners in the past hosted by American friends and one of my favourites has been the pecan pie. It is so delicious with a sweet, sticky filling and a flaky pastry.
I needed to do a lot of research and testing to get this pie right as a lot of recipes out there use corn syrup which is near impossible to find in Germany. My husband thought I was having some kind of breakdown at the weekend when he saw me adding brown sugar, golden syrup, caster sugar and maple syrup all to one bowl. I have cut down on sugar as it can make me dizzy and give me headaches but I had to do this traditional pecan pie some justice. Basically, it needs sugar and a lot of it! No clean eating here, it is a recipe for comfort and celebration, to smother it with cream. It is indulgent – just what this time of year is about!
- 80g soft butter
- 25g caster sugar
- 70g soft brown sugar
- 280g pecan halves
- 100g maple syrup
- 2 tbspn plain white flour
- 70g golden syrup
- 3 large eggs (beaten)
- 1 tspn vanilla extract
- For the pastry: (ready made shortcrust pastry also works well)
- 225g plain white flour (plus a little extra for dusting)
- 100g butter (diced)
- Pinch of salt
- Caster sugar for dusting
- Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.
- For the pastry: Sift the flour into a large bowl and then add the butter and with your fingertips mix until it turns into breadcrumbs. Stir in the salt and then add 3-4 tbpsn of water and mix to form a dough. Knead the dough gently on a floured surface and then wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 20 mins.
- Roll out the pastry and line your pie dish (greasing the dish with butter if needed). Blind bake for around 10 mins.
- Whisk the butter, brown sugar and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl until soft and fluffy. Keep whisking while adding the eggs until the mixture is well combined.
- Add the maple syrup, goldren syrup and vanilla extract and stir the mixture together with a wooden spoon. Stir in 2 tbpsn plain white flour and mix well.
- Take the pastry out of the oven and lightly dust with some caster sugar.
- Crush half of the pecans slightly but still leaving some chunks to it. Scatter this along the base of the pie dish. Then top with the rest of the pecan halves.
- Pour the syrup mixture over the top of the nuts in the pie dish. Place in the oven for around 35-40 mins or until the top starts to crack slightly. Leave to cool completely before slicing up.
Leave a Reply