I was delegated dessert duty for our Easter feast on Sunday. Some might see being delegated a cooking task as a chore but not me. To me it was an opportunity to make a pecan pie, something I've wanted to try for a while. Now I know that making a pie involves making the pastry but in this instance, it was making pastry from scratch or relaxing at the coast in the beautiful Easter weather and using store-bought pastry. You know you would have chosen store-bought too.
The first step in Claire's lazy version is to grease a loose-bottomed flan tin and then line it with shortcrust pastry.
Give it a bit of a hair cut and use the cut-offs to fill in any pastry-free spots. Press the pastry into the tin. Prick the pastry a few times with a fork.
Now you need something to weigh down the pastry while it bakes. Line the pastry with baking paper then weigh it down with rice, pie weights or dried beans. Bake the pastry for 12 minutes at 160C then remove the rice and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes.
When the shell is cooked, place it (in the tin) on a wire rack to cool.
The filling is pretty easy to make, it's an all-in affair.
In a large bowl, mix the crumbled nuts and cornflour together until the nuts are coated.
Add the rest of the ingredients (except the jam) and mix until it's all well combined.
Now it's into the shell with the filling.
Decorate the pie with the whole pecans. Feel free to be abstract. I got a little perfectionist on mine. Bake the pie for 45 minutes at 140C/290F fan-forced.
When the pie is cooked, take it from the oven and leave it in the tin on a wire rack to cool. Don't worry if it's puffed up when it first comes out of the oven. It will settle as it cools.
When the pie has cooled it's time to add the final touch - the glaze. Heat the jam and strain it then brush the pie with the strained jam.
Enjoy!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup 120g/4oz pecans, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoon corn flour
- 220 g 8oz brown sugar
- 60 g 2oz butter, melted
- 2 tablespoon cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 40 g 1oz whole pecans extra
- 2 tablespoon apricot jam warmed, sieved
- 1 sheet of shortcrust pastry
Instructions
- Grease 24cm loose-based flan tin and carefully line the tin with the pastry. Press it into the base and sides, trim it and fill in any gaps with the excess.
- Preheat the oven to 160C/320F fan-forced.
- Line pastry with baking paper then fill it with, pastry weights, dried beans or rice. I used rice. Bake the shell for 12 minutes then remove the paper and weights and bake it for another 5 minutes.
- Set it aside on a wire rack to cool.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 140C/290F fan-forced.
- Combine the chopped nuts and cornflour in a big bowl. Stir in the sugar, butter, cream, vanilla and eggs until well combined. Pour the filling into the pastry shell and decorate with the whole nuts.
- Bake the pie for 45 minutes or until it feels firm in the middle.
- Cool the pie in the tin.
- When the pie is cool, heat the jam and strain it then glaze the pie with the hot jam.
harvey justine says
Great Idea to use strawberries as side dish, I like it but what if i use crushed cashew nuts in the bottom and then topped with the mixture of eggs, pecans and other ingredient. By the way thank you for this wonderful pecan pie recipe. I found it creative and innovative.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
I like the idea you have of putting the whole ones on top but using crushed ones underneath to making cutting easier. It looks scrumptious!