Happy Thanksgiving and my Pecan Pie Torte Recipe!

My famous Pecan Pie torte-aka "pecan pie candy bar"

I’d have to say that Thanksgiving is one of my most treasured days out of the year. Not just because of all the great food, but it’s a family gathering that nobody ever misses and it’s so great to see everyone and just reflect back on the year and all that we have to be thankful for. This year in particular has been especially hard for us due to family issues, moving, and our finances; yet God is forever faithful and has been with us through it all. I am not sure what the upcoming year holds, but I am excited to see what the Lord brings about and the challenges I have yet to tackle and conquer 😉

As a tradition, my husbands family always gets together for the holidays and for Thanksgiving we all help out by making our specialties. This year is no exception, and I alway bring the desserts! I had thought about skipping the pecan pie this year due to laziness, but it’s really one of my favorites and my daughter insisted I make it. Mine is a little different then most, as I make it with a non-traditional crust, bake it in a 10-inch torte pan (with a removable bottom), overload with nuts and do NOT like the filling to be “eggy” at all. In the end it is more like a carmely-chewy pecan pie candy bar that you can hold like pizza, but we all love it and it just wouldn’t be the same without it. If you love pecan pie then give this one a try, just be ready for it to disappear fast!

The crust I use if from my first “serious” baking cookbook that I’ve had for over a decade now, Baking with Julia Child. I use her pasta frolla crust recipe and LOVE it. So much easier to work with and roll out then normal pie crust, it uses butter instead of shortening, and it taste delicious. It comes together in a snap and is a moist dough, so it doesn’t break or crack as you roll it out. That right there is a winner in my book!

Pasta Frolla recipe (enough for 1 bottom crust)-

• 1 cup flour
• 2 1/2 TBLS sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 4 TBLS cold butter
• 1 egg-beaten

Directions:

• Combine the first 4 ingredients into a mixing bowl and blend together well.
• Cut up the butter into 8 pieces. Place it all in mixing bowl, and use a pastry blender to “cut” it into the flour until until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• Make a well in the middle of the mixing bowl then pour the beaten egg in. Mix as best as you can with a wooden spoon and don’t worry if it still looks like a bunch of dry crumbs and clumps, it’s suppose to.
• Dump all of the dough and crumbs onto a flat working surface, then knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. It should come together very quickly once you start kneading it. It is now ready to be rolled out.

The pecan pie recipe I use is an adaptation of the Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie recipe from recipezaar.com. Please keep in mind, if you use a regular pie pan instead of a torte pan your cooking time may vary and it will taste different then mine. I use the torte pan for maximum “surface area”, which makes the pie more like a chewy candy bar as there is less filling to bite thru. If you don’t have a torte pan you can still get this effect by not using all of the filling in your pie pan, ideally you want about 1 inch of filling. Lastly, it is VERY rich, so cut the pieces smaller then usual.

Pecan Torte recipe (serves 10-12):

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 4 TBLS butter
• 2 large eggs-beaten
• 2 1/2 cups pecans
• 1 recipe Pasta Frolla crust, or pie crust of your choice

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare you pan with the crust and set aside.
• In a small sauce pan heat up the sugar and corn syrup together over medium heat until it just begins to bubble. Take it off the heat and add in the butter, stir until completely melted. Set the pot aside and allow it to cool for a few minutes, then pour it into a mixing bowl.
• Once the mixture has cooled a bit, start stirring the mix while slowly pouring in the egg. Just add a little at a time, making sure the mix is cool enough that it doesn’t cook the egg. If it does, simply fish out the cooked egg “lumps” and allow it too cool a bit longer before mixing in the rest of the eggs.
• Once the egg has been incorporated you can add in all of the pecans and give it a quick stir, making sure to coat all of the pecans.
• Pour the filling into your prepared torte pan, making sure not to reach the top of the crust as you don’t want it to overflow during baking. ***If you are using a regular pie pan you only want about 1 inch of filling in the crust. You can add in more if you’d like, it will just be more like the traditional pecan pie then.***
• Bake for 50-55  minutes or until it is no longer wiggly, then allow it to cool completely before serving.