Need Help with Pecan Pie

[JennieL]

I've tried two different recipies for pecan pie and have less than perfect results. I really want to make a fabulous pie for Thanksgiving. I made the Pecan Cream pie posted by sneezles. The crust and the meringue were perfect, but the middle was runny.

Yesterday I made the mocha pecan pie from epicurious.com Filling leaked under the crust and the crust is cemented to the pan :eek: To make things worse, I had new BF try the pie and was sooooo embarrassed, when the crust wouldn't come out! The filling was delicious and he ate it out of the pan.

I've seen such variations in pecan pies that my head is spinning. Some use pre baked pie shells and some don't. I've seen cook times varying from 30-60 minutes.

Please help me bake a great pecan pie!!!

[claire797]

Hi Jennie,

I've been on a mission to find the perfect pumpkin pie and after baking quite a few, these are my top two. The first one uses caramels, so it's kind of a "cheat" but very good and with a nice caramel flavor. The second one is a more traditional pecan pie, but it has the smoothest, richest flavor I've found.

Caramel Pecan Pie

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
36 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan halves (toaste them first!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) In a saucepan over low heat, combine caramels, butter and milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Gradually mix in the melted caramel mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool until filling is firm. 8 servings.

Pecan Pie

3/4 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped (toast)
1 9 inch pie shell

In a saucepan, melt butter and cook until brown. Let cool slightly. In separate bowl, mix sugar, eggs, salt, and vanilla and mix well.
Add pecans. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

[erin elizabeth]

This is my tried-and-true recipe. It is from Bon Appetit, easy to put together, and not too sickeningly sweet (which is what I was searching for). I use an oil-based crust that my mom makes, but any crust will do! I might try a shortening crust this year.

Pecan Pie

1 c sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 c light corn syrup (light colored, not lite)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c pecans, toasted in oven until fragrant

Separate about 1 c of the nicest looking pecans out of the bunch. Chop 3/4 c pecans. Blend first 5 ingredients. Add 3/4 c pecans. Pour into shell. Arrange 1 c pecans on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

[Little Bit]

The best success I've ever had was with a recipe that called for you to pre-bake the pie crust, and to pre-cook the filling over a boiling water bath, then stir the pre-toasted nuts into the warm filling, pour the filling into the crust, and bake the pie at a fairly low temperature, for a fairly long time.

(It's the techniques from The New Best Recipe cookbook by the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen people.)

The point of the techniques was a) to get the crust properly browned all the way through and b) to cook the filling evenly, all the way through, without over cooking it.

It sounds awfully fussy, but in execution wasn't so bad. (It would have been absolutely perfect if I hadn't left a piece of coffee filter on the pre-baked crust. Made slicing a real challenge, lol.)

[kkapow]

jennie,
one of the best pecan pies i've ever made came from the back of a bottle of Karo syrup. some cooks chop their pecans, but i use pecan halves.
and then there's this one from Paula Dean....

Mystery Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

Topping:
3 eggs
1/4 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup(Karo)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling:
1(8 oz.)pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1(9")unbaked, deep-dish pie shell
1 1/4 c. chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. For topping, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. For filling, in a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg until combined. Pour into pie shell. Top with chopped pecans. Pour topping over pecans.

4. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6-8 servings

good luck!

karen

[krhm]

I also use the one off of the Karo syrup bottle. My best tip I can give you is to toast the pecans before you put them into the pie; it makes a world of difference in the flavor!

[Veronica]

The Nov 12-14, 2004, issue of USA Weekend has a recipe for the perfect pecan pie. The subtitle is "Tired of leaky or half-baked crusts? Here's your solution." I've pasted it below. Hope this works for you!

Perfect Pecan Pie
Of all pies, pecan is one of the trickiest to make. The problem is in the crust. A fat-filled dough is tender, flaky and flavorful, but likely to tear during rolling and to develop tiny holes during baking. Naturally, the lava-like pecan-pie filling seeps into these openings, baking rock-hard onto the pie plate. A lean crust, on the other hand, is sturdy, but tough and dry. The crust I've developed offers the best of both styles: The following recipe is rich and tender, yet baker-friendly. Bonus: This silky-smooth filling tastes a little less treacly sweet, a plus for most pecan pie lovers. Makes 1 9-inch pie (8 servings).

Pecan Pie Filling
1 heaping cup pecans, coarsley chopped
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbs melted butter
1 Tb cornstarch
1/3 cup water

Easy Pie Dough
1 cup plus 2 Tbs bleached all-purpose flour
1 Tb sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbs (2 ounces) cold cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 Tbs frozen butter
2 Tbs frozen vegetable shortening
3 Tbs ice-cold water

To make crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub cream cheese into flour mixture with fingertips to blend thoroughly. Using a box grater, grate frozen butter and shortening into flour mixture. Working quickly, rub fat into flour until it has the texture of coarse sand and small pebbles. Stir in ice-cold water with a fork until dough clumps form; press to form a cohesive ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, pressing it into a thick disk. Refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 1 hour. (Can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen for a month.)

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a 14-inch circle, turning frequently and dusting with flour to keep it from sticking. Fold dough in half; quickly lift it into a 9-inch Pyrex (not deep-dish) pie plate and unfold. Fit dough into plate so it is not stretched in any way. Trim with scissors to 1/2-inch beyond pan lip. Roll overhanging dough under with fingertips so it is flush with pan lip, then flute. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. (Do not stick shell with a fork.)

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line pie shell with a sheet of heavy-duty foil. Crumple 3 large pieces of foil into balls and place in shell to act as light weights. Bake (lightly pressing on foil if dough starts to balloon) until fluting turns golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove all foil; bake until bottom starts to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Remove shell from oven.

To make filling: Adjust oven rack to middle position and reduce temperature to 300 degrees. In a separate pie plate, toast pecans in oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes.

Reduce temperature to 250. Meanwhile, heat brown sugar and corn syrup in a medium heat-proof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until sugar is almost dissolved. In another medium bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, vanilla and salt. Slowly whisk warm sugar mixture into eggs. Return bowl to pan of simmering water. Whisk in butter. In a small pan over low heat, stir together cornstarch and water until pasty thick; whisk into sugar-egg mixture. Heat in bowl over simmering water, stirring frequently. Set pie shell on middle oven rack. Sprinkle in pecans, then pour filling into shell. Bake until pie puffs slightly and just sets, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature and serve.

Serves 8.

Per slice: 577 calories, 7g protein, 32g fat (11g saturated), 70g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 428g sodium.

Copyright 2004 USA WEEKEND and columnist Pam Anderson. All rights reserved.

[kara_posey]

The Carmel Pecan Pie is a winner for me! A tried and true favorite of my Dad's that I make for him when I visit :)

[Little Bit]

Hey Veronica!!

Thanks for posting!!!

When I had my pie success, I used a combination of recipes and techniques, but the recipe you've posted looks as thought it's exactly what I did. (minus the left-in filter paper.)

yay!! I'm glad to find a recipe written out.

(I loved the brown sugar type filling!)

[Veronica]

Originally posted by Little Bit
When I had my pie success, I used a combination of recipes and techniques, but the recipe you've posted looks as thought it's exactly what I did. (minus the left-in filter paper.)

yay!! I'm glad to find a recipe written out.

(I loved the brown sugar type filling!) Hi Little Bit! How cool that this recipe is so close to yours!! Now I'm definitely going to give it a try. I've never used brown sugar in my pecan pies, but it sounds delicious. Can't wait to give it a whirl!

[beacooker]

Anna, would that Caramel Pecan Pie need to be refrigerated? We will be travelling 2 hours to our T-day, and I would prefer to not have to try to fit a cooler into our car. And I am worried that if it is supposed to be refrigerated and I don't do it, the inside will be too runny. Then again, if I'm not supposed to refrigerate it and I did, I am afraid the caramel would be too stiff. I'm probably thinking about this way too much. :rolleyes:

[claire797]

Originally posted by beacooker
Anna, would that Caramel Pecan Pie need to be refrigerated? We will be travelling 2 hours to our T-day, and I would prefer to not have to try to fit a cooler into our car. And I am worried that if it is supposed to be refrigerated and I don't do it, the inside will be too runny. Then again, if I'm not supposed to refrigerate it and I did, I am afraid the caramel would be too stiff. I'm probably thinking about this way too much. :rolleyes:

Don't worry. The caramel pecan pie would be fine :). I would recommend the refrigerator for long-term storage, but pecan pie can stay at room temperature for a long time. It's really good. I hope you make it.

[beacooker]

Another question, Anna. I have only had pecan pie once, and it was from Bill Miller BBQ. :o It was so teeth-hurtingly sweet that I hated it, and have never tried pecan pie again. Is that caramel pecan pie recipe extremely sweet? If so, I might reduce the amount of sugar that the recipe calls for.

Perhaps you could go to Bill Miller's (I think they have them in Austin) and get a slice of their pie and do a comparison for me. ;)

[claire797]

Originally posted by beacooker


Perhaps you could go to Bill Miller's (I think they have them in Austin) and get a slice of their pie and do a comparison for me. ;)

Anne, did I ever tell you the story about how I was personal friends with Bill Miller and his family ;)

Seriously, the pie is sweet, but tooth-achingly sweet is (as you know) so subjective. I don't usually have a problem with things being too sweet, so it's hard to say. As for cutting the sugar in this one, you could probably do it without messing up the structure of the pie, but I can't make any promises.

Recipezaar has a bunch of pecan pie recipes and in a lot of reviews, people comment on how sweet or non-sweet certain pies are, so maybe you could look there? Or maybe someone else who makes this pie could tell you?