‘Stress can not exist in the presence of a pie’
With thanksgiving round the corner, I thought it would be good to give you a class dish.
This pecan pie is sweet, indulgent and delicious. The pecans are baked twice and so makes your home smell warm and inviting for hours.
I like to make my own pie crust and tend to do it in bulk and freeze the dough. Like most baking it is process driven and rather therapeutic so a great quarantine activity. You can of course use a store bought vegan pie crust or dough, if you don’t have the time or baking gene.
This is a recipe taken straight from my culinary degree and so should be attributed to ICE Culinary School. It is such a pleasure to be able to learn these new dishes and techniques and a serendipity that the pie lesson was the week before thanksgiving.
Mr B had to endure eating slices of pecan, pumpkin and cranberry pie this week. You must be feeling very sorry for him right now. Especially since it was the week after cookie week!
Yield: One 9-inch tart
Tart
- 4 cups Pecans
- 3⁄4 cup Rice syrup
- 1⁄2 cup Maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. Arrowroot flour
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Glaze
- 2 tsp. Maple Syrup
– Preheat oven to 275° F
– Roast pecans for about 40 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to completely cool.
– Raise oven temperature to 350° F.
– Roll out half the dough and transfer to tart pan. Chill 15 minutes. Trim edges, allowing 1-inch overhang. Chill rolled dough for another 15 minutes.
– Roll out other half of dough and transfer to sheet pan. Cover and chill until ready to use.
– In bowl of food processor, grind pecans to coarse flour. Add syrups, arrowroot, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
– Pour filling into tart shell. Place top dough over filling, trim and seal edges. Cut a few steam vents or cut in strips and lattice like in the above picture.
– Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until crust is firm. Brush top with glaze 10 minutes before removing from oven.
– Cool and set before serving (about 30 minutes).
If making the pie dough:
For the dough:
Yield: Two 9-inch pie doughs
Dry Ingredients
- 1+1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1+1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tbsp. Maple crystals
- 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
- 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, partially solid (refrigerate if necessary)
- 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 4-10 tablespoons ice cold water
– In medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Use whisk to fully combine ingredients.
– Add oil to bowl (dot around the flour, not all in one place). Using a pastry cutter or clean hands; blend oil into flour. Dough should have coarse, sand-like consistency.
– Add vanilla and maple syrup to dough with wooden spoon. Mix to combine.
– Slowly add water to dough one tablespoon at a time. Dough should just hold together and be moist (but not wet).
– Place dough in plastic wrap, twisting so it holds together. Flatten to a disc shape and refrigerate 10-15 minutes.
– Remove dough from refrigerator; rest it until workable and can be rolled without cracking. Split into 2 pieces and roll out separately.
– Lay dough on top of parchment. Place second piece of parchment paper on top of dough and roll out.
– Flip the dough and parchment a few times as you are rolling to make sure it isn’t getting stuck to the parchment or getting wrinkles from the parchment.
– Roll the dough until dough is 1/8-inch thick (approx. the size in-between the prongs of a fork)
– Place 9-inch pie plate over center of rolled out dough. Using sharp knife, cut a circle 1-inch wider than the pie pan.
– Take a rolling pin and lay the pie dough out on top of it, use it to move over the pie pan and lay in. Shave off the edges of the dough. Place back in the fridge for 10 minutes.
– Once dough is cold again, prick the bottom with a fork to create air pockets. This will stop the dough from bubbling up. Bake it in the oven for 10 minutes till it is starting to brown, this is called par-baking.
– Take the pie base out of the oven, add the filling in and add the second pie dough to the top, making holes in the top or form it into strips and create a lattice affect, like in the picture.
– Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. When you think it is nearly ready, glaze with the maple syrup and bake for another 2 minutes, to give extra shine.
