Brenda’s pecan pie

With Canadian Thanksgiving fast approaching, my Canadian host cooked for me my first ever Pecan Pie. The filling is similar to the butter tarts I have already posted, but that is by the by. This is without question the best recipe I have tasted on my travels thus far. A buttery flaky crust, sweet gooey insides and firm nutty pecans. Whether American or Canadian, is up for debate. But there’s no time for that, you need to make this pie now.

So below in all its unadulterated glory is the recipe for Brenda’s Pecan Pie.

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Level: medium
Methods: pie crust, creaming
Skills: baking

Time: 1 1/2 hours
Makes: 8 hearty slices

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Ingredients

For the pie crust:
150g plain flour
1/4tsp salt
30g lard or white vegetable fat
30g butter
4tbsp cold water

For the filling:
3 eggs, slightly beaten
300g golden syrup
130g dark soft brown sugar
75g butter, melted
1tsp vanilla extract
125g pecan halves

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Method

1. Stir together flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Using a knife cut in the fat until the pieces are pea-size (do not rub in, we want a flaky north American pie crust.)

3. Sprinkle the water over the mix, one tablespoon at a time, gently tossing together with a fork. Repeat this until the dough can be brought together into one ball.

4. Chill in the fridge until needed.

5. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

6. For the filling, simply combine the eggs, syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla in a bowl. An electric whisk can be used at this point.

7. Stir in the pecan halves.

8. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten the pie crust dough.
Roll the dough from the center to the edge, into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.

9. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry. Crimp or trim the edge as desired.

10. Place the pastry-lined pie plate onto the oven rack. Carefully pour the filling into the pastry shell. To prevent overbrowning, you can cover the edge of the pie with foil.

11. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

12. Cool completely on a wire rack, the filling is like molten lava, so be careful.

Butter Tarts

The Butter Tart is a quintessentially Canadian recipe, and is irrefutably Canadian in origin. This recipe has been modified and altered over the generations to the point where this simple tart can taste vastly different depending where you are in the country. Opinions too, vary over what other ingredients are added, the type of pastry used and indeed even the desired consistency of the filling. My preferred variant of the tart includes plump raisins (traditional), uses European shortcrust pastry (not traditional) and should be firm but oozing (a matter of preference.)

Some butter tarts are made with dark corn syrup, while others use light. For a Brit hoping to emulate the recipe, light corn syrup is easier to substitute as it is nearly identical to golden syrup, so that’s what I’ve gone with in this recipe. However in an effort to lend a more treacly tone to the tart I have added a small amount of dark soft brown sugar. The recipe is hugely forgiving and can be made even more fragrant and “Canadian” with a dash of maple syrup.

This little treat is unashamedly sweet and so is best prepared in individual “tartlets” using a 12 hole muffin tin.

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Level: medium
Methods: rubbing-in, creaming
Skills: baking

Time: 1 hour
Makes: around 12 tarts

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Ingredients
150g plain flour
75g butter, chilled and cubed
1tbsp icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1-3tsp water
75g raisins
60g soft butter
150g golden syrup
50g soft dark brown sugar
2tsp maple syrup (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2tsp vanilla extract

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Method

1. Place the raisins into a small bowl and cover with hot water from the tap. Leave to stand until needed so they can plump up.

2. Next, place the flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl.

3. Add the cubed butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.

4. Add the egg yolk and stir lightly. You need a firm ball of dough, so you will more than likely need to add a dash of water. Bring together into a ball and rest briefly in the fridge.

5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the soft butter, syrup and sugar with a wooden spoon. Stir until creamy and the sugar has dissolved.

6. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.

7. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

8. Drain the raisins.

9. Now, prepare the muffin tins by rolling out the pastry and cutting into 4-inch (approx) circles with a pastry cutter.

10. Fit dough circles into muffin the cups, taking care not to stretch the pastry as this can cause shrinkage later; set aside in fridge until ready to fill.

11. Divide the raisins equally into all of the tart cases, then top each evenly with the butter mixture.

12. Bake for 20 minutes; the filling will be lightly browned but still bubbling.

13. Let the cooked butter tarts cool in the tin for 10 minutes after removing from oven; then remove and place on racks until completely cool.