Pecan pie, is an American thanksgiving staple. A delicious end to a special meal, and a scrummy treat to enjoy in the days that follow.
My recipe for pecan pie uses just ingredients readily available in the UK. It's a sentimental dish for me, as it brings back lots of memories.
Shortly after I left home, my parents took us all to America for a 'last' family holiday. Our visit was in November and coincided with Thanksgiving. It was an awesome experience, and was a nice way to celebrate being together as a family, we somehow came to the decision that we would try to celebrate thanksgiving every year after that.
Pecan pie was one of my favourite foods I tried whilst in the States, so I was keen to recreate it. The traditional recipe calls for corn syrup, which isn't so easy to get hold of here. My recipe gets by without it.
Pecan pie recipe
For the pastry
Two cups flour
Half cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Half cup oil
One egg
For the filling
75g pecans
Two cups flour
Half cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Half cup oil
One egg
For the filling
75g pecans
1 tbsp ground almonds
Three eggs
3 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
Start by making your pastry-
Whisk your dry ingredients in the mixing bowl, to remove clumps in the flour.
Then add the egg, followed by the oil and mix by hand.
You may need to add a drop of water to bind the mix together.
Leave the dough to cool in the fridge for an hour.
Blind baking the pastry
Once cooled, roll your pastry out to 0.5 cm width and place in your greased cake tin or pie dish.
Ensure there are no cracks, and hold back any spare dough to use to fill any that might appear after blind baking.
Place a sheet of baking paper on the pastry and top with dried beans or pulses.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 20 minutes.
Remove the sheet of beans, you can store these to use again.
Pecan Pie Filling
In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs, sugar and maple syrup together.
Next gently fold in the nuts and spices.
Pour the filling into the pastry, ensuring the pecan halves are evenly distributed.
Return the mix to the oven and bake for a further 45 minutes.
You can serve straight from the oven, or like me, prepare a day ahead and warm through just before serving.
I recommend eating with a dollop of whipped cream and a spiced coffee, but it also tastes great with vanilla ice cream.
If you are looking for more thanksgiving food why not see my