Chocolate Pecan Pie

I love Pecan Pie. My mother-in law taught me how to make it when I first visited Arkansas 14-15 years ago. But it was the traditional Pecan Pie without the chocolate that I learned from her. Sometime last year, Tita Emmy (one of the ladies at our church who always feed us with her delicious meals every Sunday), made Chocolate Pecan Pie and we all loved it. 

This week we were invited to dinner at a friend’s house and I promised to bring a dessert. I searched online and found a recipe. Just like the one I used on Thanksgiving, it was very rich and sweet. I made another batch and tweaked the recipe — used only 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead of 1/2 cup and  6 tablespoon of corn syrup instead of 12 tbsp or 3/4 cup. It came out perfect! Just the way I like my chocolate pecan pie: rich and fudgy, but not too sweet. And very good with vanilla ice cream or double cream. I have yet to ask Tita Emmy for her recipe. But in the meantime here’s the one I recently used.

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST:

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (150 grams), plus more for dusting
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, preferably high-fat, European style, chilled and cubed
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water, as needed

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 1 ½ cups pecan halves (170 grams)
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (56 grams)
  • ¾ cup dark corn syrup
  • 4 large eggs
  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar(100 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (5 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

PREPARATION

  1. Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until the mixture forms chickpea-size pieces. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together. It should be moist but not wet. On a lightly floured surface, gather the dough into a ball. Flatten into a disk with the heel of your hand. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, after removing plastic wrap, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle. Transfer crust to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork. Chill crust for 30 minutes.
  3. While the dough chills, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line chilled crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until very pale golden, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
  4. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast nuts, shaking pan occasionally, until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.
  5. Make the filling: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth; cool.
  6. In a large bowl, whisk together cooled chocolate-butter mixture, corn syrup, eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, bourbon and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Arrange pecans over filling. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the filling is just set when the pan is jiggled, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Recipe adapted from NYT Cooking: Chocolate Pecan Pie

by Elna Categories: Baking & Cooking