Cinnamon Pecan Pie

I should probably get used to this whole updating thing...it's harder than it looks!  With my old blog (and my short-lived Twitter account), I managed to update nearly daily because I would write random rants about things that pissed me off, but that gave certain people the impression that I was a very dark and angry person.  Which I am not.

Also, I tried to add a bunch of people that I follow, and Blogger keeps not saving them.  I have attempted this no less than 7 times in at least 3 different ways.  I even sent in a help request to Blogger.  So, Blogger peeps, if you are reading this, something's broken.  Please fix it. 

Anyway--I made a pecan pie!  My mom makes frosted pecans every Christmas, and they are phenomenal.  I'm not a gigundo pecan fan, but when you coat them in egg whites, sugar, cinnamon and bake them, they become the best dessert treat ever.  Hence, my addition of cinnamon to a normal pecan pie recipe.  I've also found that arranging halved pecans on the top distributes the nuts nicely and gives you a really nice, pure, roasted nut flavor.

I have to give 99% of the credit to this recipe, which is the best corn syrup-less recipe I have found for pecan pie.  Corn syrup grosses me out, and it's a pain in the butt to work with, so I don't use it!  This recipe is incredibly easy, and the pie is oh so very good and hardly sticky at all.

1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. white sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

1 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. cream (recipe calls for milk, but all I had was soy milk and heavy cream, so I opted for the cream)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. chopped pecans 

a bunch (1/2 cup?) halved pecans

1 unbaked pie shell* 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Toss butter in a saucepan to melt over low heat.  While melting is happening, whisk eggs until they are frothy.  Mix melted butter into eggs.  Add sugars.  Add flour and cinnamon.  Mix everything together.  Add vanilla and cream.  Fold in chopped pecans.

Pour the whole mess into the pie crust.  Arrange halved pecans on top of the pie in a pinwheel/spiral/snowflake pattern.  Make it look pretty.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes.  Crust should be light brown and crispy.

Prettily arranged pecans

The crust collapsed a little bit because there was butter in the bottom of the oven that started to smoke, so I had to perform an emergency rescue about 3 minutes into the cooking process.

*Pie Shell Recipe

As you can tell from the photos, I am rubbish at crimping them but when it comes to ingredients, I am a pie crust purist.  My boss asked me why I don't just go out and buy them, and I refused to dignify that with an answer.  YES, it takes time, but unlike homemade pumpkin puree (IMHO), it is definitely, totally, 100% worth it. My roommate  asked me to show her how to make these, and it really is pretty easy.  The trick is to do it in a cool kitchen and be obsessive about keeping your ingredients cold.  It takes some practice to get the feel for it...my first few pie crusts were not great.

Also.  You do not need a food processor to do this and anyone who tells you that you do is being lazy.  You don't even need a pastry cutter (though having one will make your life easier...I adore mine).  You just need a couple of forks or two butter knives.

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on most store-bought crusts?  Way too long.  A true pie crust has:

2 1/2 c. flour

1 c. butter

dash of salt

dash of sugar (if you want)

ice water (about 8 tbsp?)

That's it.  Nothing else belongs in there.  I don't even like vegetable shortening because, while it supposedly makes for a "flakier" crust, it detracts from the taste.  And a pie, to me, is all about the flavor.  If you properly blend the butter and flour and keep things cold until baking, your crust will be plenty flaky.  The butter basically melts down between layers of flour.

So.

Start with refrigerated butter.  Cube your butter.  Cover and refrigerate it again.  Go be patient for awhile, then come back to the kitchen.

Pour flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, mix, and create a well in the center.  Put cubed butter in well.  Get out your pastry cutter, forks or knives, and blend butter into flour until you have pea-sized chunks.  Make sure you are really thorough with this step (it will take awhile), otherwise you'll get a lot of stray flour at the bottom.

Once things are looking nicely mixed, you can refrigerate again if necessary (I have to in the summer).  If not, go ahead and add the water, a little bit at a time, mixing it into the dough each time.  You may need to use your hands to get the stray bits of dough from the bottom of the bowl.  Keep lightly mushing the dough and water together until the dough forms a ball.  Be careful not to overwork things.

Add more flour to the outside of the ball, wrap in saran wrap (or place in an airtight container), and refrigerate.  This recipe will make enough for 2 single-crust pies or 1 double-crust pies.

I'll write more later (with pictures) about how to roll out the dough, because that can be a little tricky, too.