Pecan pie is one of my all time favourite desserts. We sampled a lot of delicious pecan pies when we were in America recently, it’s the kind of dessert I can never get enough of. I wanted to make my own pecan pie this week to use up my delicious stash of special pecans that I brought home from “We’re Nuts” near Vienna, Georgia. In America they say Pee-CON, in Ireland we say PEE-can, I say vee-EHN-uh, they say vy-ENN-uh. I love all the different words and pronunciations for food they have. Whoever knew a turnip is called a rutabaga!
I wanted to make an Irish version of PEEcan pie that would be worthy of its Irish name. Americans traditionally use Bourbon or rum to flavour their pecan pies. In order to Irish up my pecan pie I substituted the bourbon for a generous splash of Jameson Irish whiskey. I wanted an additional texture to the pie, something that would work with the buttery pastry, nutty pecans, whiskey and the sweet filling, so I added in some chopped apple. The apple worked out surprisingly well. I made them into individual tarts as they are the perfect little treat on a cold dark January evening.
Here’s how:
Pastry
– 175 g plain flour
– 1 and 1/2 level tablespoons icing sugar
– 75 g salted butter, chopped into small pieces
– 3 tablespoons very cold water
Filling
– 3 large eggs
– 110 g soft dark brown sugar
– 200 g golden syrup
– 40 g butter, melted
– 1 tablespoon whiskey
– 125 g pecan nut halves, roughly chopped
– 50g of chopped/cubed apple (a firm apple like breaburn/ Jonagold works best)
– 32 pecan nut halves for decoration
You will need 8 patty tins – 10 cm in diameter and 2cm deep
Begin by pre-heating the oven to 190C. Grease the patty tins. To make the pastry, sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Next, add the softened butter, and rub the butter pieces into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
In a small jug lightly beat the egg yolks and add 3 tablespoons very cold water. Gather the mixture together using a fork until it forms a dough. Place the ball of dough in cling film/ small plastic bag and leave to chill in the fridge for a minimum of 45 minutes.
When the pastry has chilled, remove from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured. It should be about 3mm thick. The patty tins I used were 10 cm in diameter and 2cm deep. Cut out circles from the pastry that are about 13cm in diameter. I traced a circle around a small saucer. Gently place the pastry circles into the patty tins. Make sure not to stretch the pastry and make sure the pastry comes right up to the edge, as the pastry will shrink back in the oven. Distribute the chopped pecans and chopped apples evenly into the pastry cases.
Now, in a large bowl, break the eggs and whisk with an electric beater until foamy. Next, stir in the brown sugar, golden syrup, melted butter and whiskey. Using the beater, mix well until all combined. Then spoon the mixture equally into the patty tins. Place 4 pecan halves on top of each pie as decoration. Place the patty tins on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Once cooked the pies will puff up, but they flatten down once cooled. Place them on a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream/creme fraiche/ natural yogurt, if you are trying to be healthy 🙂
