Thanksgiving….continued……………………….Pecan Pie Recipe

Thanksgiving….continued….

I know I promised the recipe for Pecan Pie….

I 8- 9 inch loose bottomed flan case.
Sweet short crust pastry…

Make sure it’s not frozen…make sure it’s enriched with an egg and has either caster sugar or low calorie sweeter or such added to pastry ( 2 ozs for every 8 ozs of flour). For short pastry I use half vegetable-shortening or lard and half standard margarine…others like all butter…if you use ‘sauce’ flour you will get a lighter pastry …it’s worth sifting the flour….you can also add corn-flour (cornstarch)…replacing one in every 8 ounces will give a more crispy, biscuit-like base…

4 large eggs beaten, half tin of golden syrup and five tablespoons of maple syrup (optional) and 3 teaspoons of vanilla essence…double cream to thin…you can use full cream milk…
8-10 ounces of large pecan nuts ( usually 2 bags from a supermarket).

Roll out pastry, put into the case, cut off excess pastry BUT do not trim back to the edge of the dish. Pastry shrinks when baked…you want a good inch of excess. Line flan dish with baking paper and fill with baking beans and bake blind until the pastry is turning a light gold…170-180 Celsius in a fan assisted oven…. for 20 minutes or so…

Remove from over. Remove beans and baking paper and using a pastry brush the pastry with beaten egg and put case back into the oven until the egg wash has dried. This stops the filling soaking into the pastry. Remove from oven and repeat the brushing with egg wash….you can leave this harden on the heat on the case.

With an electric whisk on slow…beat the eggs together with syrups and vanilla…add two tablespoons of double cream or mascarpone and a tablespoon of brandy….if the mixture is too thick loosen with more cream until it acquire the consistency of a thick custard…
Arrange pecans around the pastry case …then carefully pour on the custard…take your time …slower is better. Then finish off with remaining pecans in a circle….

Bake at 150 Celsius until the custard lightly sets…it should still be soft in the middle of the case…remove from oven and leave to stand for an hour. Remove ring and using a palette knife ease the flan from its base and slide on to a cake stand and serve with Maple Syrup Ice-cream…. and a glass of decent sauterne…

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