Pecan trees are native to the southern United States, with commercial growing beginning in the 1880s. Prior to that Native Americans and colonists enjoyed wild pecans as a delicacy. Although it’s unclear when pecans were first baked in a pie, some believe the dish was invented by French immigrants soon after they settled in New Orleans and were introduced to the nut by local Indian tribes. A recipe for a pecan custard pie was published in 1886 in Harper’s Bazaar; however, the dessert didn’t start showing up in well-known American cookbooks until 1940. From there pecan pie became popular, spreading across the country. Today it is commonly served during the holiday season.
Recipe Servings: 8
+ 30 minutes resting
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra to dust pan
- 1 tsp salt
- 7 Tbsp butter, chilled
- ¼ cup water, ice cold
Filling:
- 6 Tbsp (¾ stick) unsalted butter
- 1¼ cups brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup light corn syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp grated orange zest
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- ½ lb pecan halves
- Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, as needed for serving (optional)
Directions
- Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the butter. Rub and pinch the butter into the flour using your fingers to coat butter pieces and form small pea-sized balls.
- Create a well in the center of the mixture and add the water. Mix it together using your hands.
- Pull away walnut-size pieces of dough and smear them using the heel of your hand. This technique is called fraisage and it helps produce flaky layers.
- Form the flattened pieces into a ball and then slightly flatten it to form a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and place the dough on a floured surface. Roll a floured rolling pin from the center of the dough disk to the edge rotating the dough until the circle is an ⅛-inch thick and 12 inches in diameter.
- Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and lift the pin over the edge of a 9-inch glass pie pan. Gently unroll the dough over the pan. Lightly press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Crimp the edge of the crust by placing two fingers on the crust’s outside rim while placing one finger on the inside and pressing outward to form a V.
- Prick the bottom of the pie crust all over using the tines of a fork.
- Chill the crust until firm, about 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 10 minutes in the freezer.
- Place a baking sheet on the middle oven rack and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and whisk. Remove butter mixture from the heat.
- Whisk in the corn syrup, vanilla, orange zest, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Add corn syrup mixture and whisk together.
- Spread the pecans evenly into the bottom of the pie crust.
- Pour the corn syrup mixture evenly over the nuts.
- Place the pie on the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the filling is set, about 45–60 minutes.
- Cool completely before serving.
For Crust:
For Filling:
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