Pecan Pie! The world might be going crazy, but Pi day is Pi day, so of course I had to bake a pie. I’m actually not normally a huge sweet pie fan, but I am a big savory pie fan. Either way, somehow I haven’t posted a pie before. The closest I probably came was the chocolate chip cookie cheesecake that was pretty pie like. Anyway, it was Pi Day, and I had some pecans at home, (which ironically I had bought by accident), so I decided to make a pecan pie.
I was torn between two recipes. Mary Berry’s recipe from her baking bible, and Sally’s Baking Addiction ‘s recipe. In the end I decided to go with Mary Berry’s because I liked that it used maple syrup instead of corn syrup (which, to be fair, Sally also suggests as an alternative).
First I mixed up a dough. Mary’s recipe includes a short crust recipe to use, so I made that first..
Mary Berry's Rich Shortcrust Pastry
Ingredients
- 175 g Plain Flour
- 15 g Confectioner's Sugar
- 75 g Butter Unsalted, diced
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 1 tbsp Cold Water More if needed
Instructions
- Add sugar and flour to a large bowl and work in the butter until the mix resembles a breadcrumb consistency.
- Add the yolk and water and mix until everything comes together as a firm dough.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Then I made the filling and put it all together…
Mary Berry's Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Pie Crust (from above) (or premade if lazy I guess)
- 25 g Softened Butter
- 175 g Light Brown Sugar
- 3 large Eggs
- 200 ml Maply Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 150 g Pecan halves (I actually used chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 355F.
- Assuming home made dough, roll out the dough and line a tart pan. I used a nine inch with removable bottom. The removable bottom ended up being a missed blessing which I'll get to later.
- Prick dough all around with a fork. Place parchment on top of the dough and fill with baking beads. Blind Bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and parchment and bake for 5 more.
- In a bowl beat the butter and sugar together. Then add eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat some more.
- Fill the pie crust with pecans. If you used halves you can try to arrange them arfully, I used chopped pecans so I just poured them in and distrbuted them as an even layer.
- Pour in the filling. This is where the pan was an issue. Remember how you prick a bunch of holes in the dough..? I ended up with a huge mess after filling it. Next time I'd either line the pan with parchment, or be careful about not putting holes in the dough by the seam/joint between the ring and the pan bottom.
- Finally, bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling has completely set. I needed the extra 5.
The results were AMAZING. Easily one my own favorites of things I’ve baked. Of course it doesn’t hurt that I love pecan pie anyway.
