After all the cakes I have been baking recently, I missed pie.
My fiance requested pecan pie (his favorite) for his birthday this week.
I must add here that I detested pecan pie before this relationship. It is usually gummy and cloyingly sweet. In fact, when he told me that his favorite pie was pecan, I sighed heavily on the inside and skeptically went about researching pecan pie recipes. To my delight, I discovered that pecan pie could be delicious when baked properly from scratch and I even discovered a version using dates instead of some of the corn syrup and brown sugar. It adds a natural earthy flavor and a bit of texture to the filling and keeps it from being too sweet. Since I discovered this recipe, I have been adding dates to pecan pie. (EDITED TO ADD: I have also copied the recipe at the bottom of this post.)
I still prefer fruit pies, but I no longer sigh at the mention of pecan pie. (Thank god, because that was pretty obnoxious of me, huh?)
Though I have several standby pecan pie recipes I wanted to try the version in the Pie and Pastry Bible.
Rose's pecan pie recipe in the Bible baked in the tart pan so that "every bit (except the very edge) contains the same amount of crust, nuts and filling." Luckily my fiance bought me a tart pan and thinks I don't use it enough. Less filling than a traditional pie keeps it being too sweet and a bittersweet chocolate glaze piped on top in spiderwebby fashion adds a slight touch of richness.
The result was delicious and I just popped into the kitchen and there is another wedge missing, so someone went back for thirds.
I am going to keep my eye out for Lyle's Golden Syrup which is lighter in color & mellower in flavor than corn syrup so I can try using it in pecan pie as this recipe recommends. I think it will create a shinier top and it is supposed to be less sweet than corn syrup.
