Wonderful Pecan Pie

For our most recent baking class adventure, we went on to make pecan pie starting with a basic pate sucree recipe. I saw this recipe and I kept nudging my partner and pointing to it. I wanted to make sure we got around to this one.

Lemonade and I went to Norma's for lunch and my Napoleon waffle was so ridiculously rich, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to eat for days. But when this baby came out of the oven...I already took a bite before it cooled down. Delish! There are so many pecans here and unlike other pecan recipes I've tried out where they were a complement to something else, these pecans take center stage. Lemon Zest said she only wanted to eat the crust, but was completely unimpressed by it. She took a second bite of just the pecan and stayed around to demolish half this pie with me. Yumyum.

Pate Sucree (Your pie base)
Makes at least 3 pie bottoms

1 1/2 lbs all purpose flour
8 oz granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 oz butter
5 eggs

1) Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add in butter in the mixer on the lowest speed. Mix until flour mixture resembles Parmesan cheese.
2) Beat the eggs, add to the flour and butter mixture. Mix until holds together. Scrape out of bowl and cover in plastic wrap. Chill until firm.

Pecan Pie
(makes at least 2 9" pies)

12 oz pecan halves
8 fluid oz dark corn syrup
6 oz granulated sugar
4 oz butter
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
1 fluid oz Bourbon

1) Combine corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan; stir well to mix. Place on low heat and allow to come to a boil, without stirring.
2) Whisk eggs with salt and Bourbon. When syrup boils, remove from heat and add butter, allowing the butter to melt on its own.
3) Whisk hot syrup into egg mixture, slowly, without over beating. Skim foam from surface.

*Note: Skimming the foam is an aesthetics thing. Otherwise, your pie will be foamy looking and hence, unappetizing. I admit that it was kind of disgusting to remove all the foam, but it helps!
You can't really taste the Bourbon. It offers a very subtle aftertaste, which is the only time you can separate the taste from the other gooey goodies. You could also replace the Bourbon with vanilla.
If you want to chocolate-fy this recipe, you can add 4 oz semisweet chocolate in when you add the butter in step 4! Part of me regrets not doing it b/c it smelled heavenly!

Putting the Pie Together...

1) Take the Pate Sucree and shape it into a circle before rolling out. Roll evenly from the center outwards until the dough is very thin. To transfer onto your pie dish, roll the dough onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the pan.
2) Press the dough into the pan making sure the dough touches the surface. Trim the edges, allowing some excess to be folded over.
3) Fold over the edges and shape as desired.
4) If time permits, return dough to freezer.
5) Fill pan with pecans. Whole 12 oz may not be necessary. Fill until just below pan edge (the dough will rise and the pecan sauce will bubble, so don't go overboard here). Pour sauce over pecans.
6) If necessary, use a fork to press down pecans and make sure they're immersed.
7) Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes or until the center is set.

Overall, as excited as I was for this recipe, part of me wondered how good it could possibly be. Then I took it out of the oven....It's sooo good. It's got a ton of pecans in it so it's better than anything store bought. The pecans get well toasted throughout and have a wonderful texture. The sauce also stays gooey at room temperature so the food loving part of me takes the pecans and rubs it into the sauce before popping into my mouth. Yum. It's actually one of the first times where I enjoyed eating the filling more than I enjoyed eating a more balanced piece of filling and crust.