Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

Monday, January 3, 2011

Perfect Pecan Pie



This is the first of two Christmas pies. I showed up with this one, my father-in-law's favorite, in hand when we arrived for our holiday stay. This is the first time I finally got to try sorghum instead of molasses, and my oh my is it good. It gives the pie less bite and a more mellow, well-rounded flavor. Also, with the tamer flavor of the sorghum, the other flavors, like the lemon zest, really sing out.

Perfect Pecan Pie
7 T. unsalted butter
1 heaping cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 c. sorghum
1/8 c. real maple syrup
1/8 c. good quality honey
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves (1/2 pound)

Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out crust dough and line pie dish. Prick dough all over with a fork and stick in the freezer for about 10 minutes while you prepare the filling. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in sorghum, honey, syrup, vanilla, zest, and salt. Whisk syrup mixture into eggs. Pour pecans into pie shell. Pour liquid mixture over. Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes. Pie is done when filling is set and crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

Current Pie Tally: 42

Monday, November 29, 2010

Pre-Holiday Warm Up with Apple



Apologies for the lack of posting. There will be a flurry of pie posting excitement this week to make up for it - starting with this apple delight. We had no junk food in the house and a bag of apples in the fridge, so I threw this together using my standby apple pie recipe. I used packaged Tropicana orange juice for the fruit juice in this one and unsulphured blackstrap molasses. Freshly squeezed lemon, orange, etc. juice makes for a slightly more flavorful pie and the potent molasses really imparted a pleasant sharpness this time.

As a side note, I think it was a bad year for apples in Wisconsin this year. The only ones I've been happy to eat fresh so far are Russets. All of the Macouns and Cortlands I've purchased have been mealy and watery tasting, but they make decent pies and baby applesauce.

Current Pie Tally: 35