chocolate rum maple pecan pie

chocolate rum maple pecan pie

18 Nov 2024

When I bought Beatrix Bakes : Another Slice by Natalie Paull, this chocolate rum maple pecan pie was the first recipe I bookmarked. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it was the perfect time to make the pie. 

I've made this pie twice now, once with buckwheat pastry (not a fan) and the second time with a simple shortcrust pastry. I made a smaller pie the second time round, so the quantities have been adjusted (just click on the link above for the original quantities) and I also needed to adjust most of the baking temperatures to suit my gas oven. Natalie recommends baking the pie at 130°C but as my oven only has 'low' followed by 160°C, I baked my pie for 40 minutes at 160°C then 20 minutes at 170°C. 

Here’s the recipe for you which makes a 11 x 33 cm rectangular pie. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate Rum Maple Pecan Pie - filling adapted from a Natalie Paull recipe
Pastry
60 grams cold unsalted butter
150g plain flour
Pinch salt
2-3 tablespoons iced water

Filling
125g whole pecans
185ml pure maple syrup
110g demarara sugar (I used a mix of caster sugar and light brown sugar)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk (reserving the egg white to seal the tart shell)
65g unsalted butter, super soft
40ml cream (35% milkfat)
15ml dark rum (or extra maple syrup for booze-free)
10g Dutch cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla paste
pinch sea salt flakes

To finish
200ml thick cream (45% milkfat)
10ml dark rum (optional)
3g vanilla paste
Pinch of sea salt flakes

Method
Combine the butter, flour and salt in a food processor. Gradually add sufficient water until a dough form around the blade. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Roll out to fit a 11 x 33 cm rectangular tin then refrigerate the shell for at least 1 hour before blind baking. Hold a little of the excess dough to patch any cracks after blind baking. 

To blind bake, preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Trim the edges of the pastry with a sharp knife then cover the dough with a piece of aluminium foil (dull side down), tucking it snugly into the corner of the tin. Fill the lined tin with caster sugar, rice or baking beans. Place in the oven on a baking tray, then reduce the heat to 165°C and bake for 50–60 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5–10 minutes so the base crust is a biscuity brown colour.

For the filling, heat the oven to 130°C/160°C, conventional and scatter the pecans onto a shallow baking tray. Bake for 25–30 minutes until they’re just starting to darken on the outside and are the palest brown inside – cut or snap one open to assess. Set 15 g aside for the end decoration and use the rest for the filling. Keep the oven on 130°C/160°C and set a rack on a low shelf and remove the upper racks.

Set up a double boiler: heat 5 cm deep water in a 20 cm saucepan to a low simmer and choose a heatproof bowl large enough that the base won’t touch the water when resting on top of the saucepan. Weigh all the remaining ingredients, except the pecans, into the bowl and whisk together thoroughly. The butter and cocoa will be lumpy, but all will melt and combine together as it heats.

Set the bowl over the double boiler and whisk occasionally until the mix thickens and the chocolate and butter melt. This should take around 10 minutes. The mix will read 55–60°C on a digital thermometer and will look like a lustrous brown milkshake. Take care it doesn’t overcook and get chunky/curdled at any stage. Scrape the filling into a jug.

If the mix does start cooking firm at the edge, act fast. Take the bowl off the double boiler and whisk vigorously to release the steam and regulate the temperature. If the mix gets very overcooked, strain out the cooked egg chunks and whisk the drained filling into a fresh whole egg.

Place the blind-baked crust, still in the tin, on a shallow baking tray. If there are any large cracks or dipped sides, soften some leftover dough and gently patch any large fissures – taking care not to press hard and break the crust. Meticulously brush a light layer of the egg white on the inside of the tart to seal any fine cracks, then bake for 3 minutes to seal the egg white.

Bring the tart crust back out and crush the toasted pecans with force in your hands while letting them fall onto the base of the crust. Par-crushed pecans give the top a nougaty texture and make cutting the tart easier than whole pecans. Return the crust to the oven. Carefully pour the filling into the crust, being careful not to overfill. Tease the pecans back up to float on the surface with your finger or a spoon, ensuring there are no pecan-less gaps on the top.

Bake for 50–60 minutes at 130°C/160°C. The wobble check is different for this pie because of the crusty nut raft: touch the top of the pie to feel how cooked it is below. If liquid and jiggly, bake longer. Gently peel off a pecan from the centre to check underneath – it will look like a stable yet soft cream. There should be gooey residue on an inserted skewer (85°C internal).

Cool at room temperature for a least an hour (2 is good) or chill for a chewier bite. To finish, whip the cream with the rum, vanilla and salt and pile onto the centre of the cooled pie. With an offset spatula, gently spread the cream over the pie, leaving a 6 cm border all around so you can see the pie goodness underneath. Hold a handful of the reserved toasted pecans in your fist and crush them as you let them fall onto the cream.

To serve, cut gently through the cream, pecan top and side crust with a fine serrated knife, clean the knife, then cut through fully along the slice line to chomp through to the base.

This went down a treat both at work and at home and just fyi, the whipped cream topping is not an optional extra.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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browned butter pecan frangipane tart

browned butter pecan frangipane tart

20 Nov 2023

 

My household is a small one so a 23cm tart is way too big, even when I share it with my neighbours and workmates. I've long wanted a shallow 15.5cm tart tin as its exactly half the dimensions of a 23 cm tin. When I was in Paris I made a beeline to A. Simon and purchased a De Buyer perforated tart tin, which is impossible to find in Sydney. Since my return, I've been looking for a reason to use the tin, then suddenly realised that Thanksgiving is upon us. 

Thanksgiving isn't a thing in Australia but I used to write a food column for a US based blog so got into the habit of making pies and tarts for Thanksgiving. This tart was 100% inspired by Claire Saffitz's Thanksgiving menu which I found on the NYT Cooking youtube channel.

I love frangipane tarts so I used Claire's tart as inspiration but adapted my own recipe to come up with this browned butter pecan frangipane tart. I thought the filling might be a bit overwhelming if it was made entirely from pecans so I used half almond meal and half toasted pecan meal. I toasted the pecans for about 8 minutes in a 190°C, conventional oven, then ground them in my mini food processor.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 15.5 cm tart. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. If you'd like to make a 23cm tart, the quantity of pastry in the recipe is sufficient to make a 23cm shell. For the filling, use a whole egg, and double the rest of the filling ingredients. The bake time will stay the same.

Browned butter pecan frangipane tart – makes a 15.5 cm tart 

Pastry

60g cold unsalted butter

1 cup plain flour

pinch of salt

2 tbs cold water

Frangipane

65g unsalted butter

50g raw caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 egg yolk

50g almond or toasted pecan meal or a mixture of both

pinch salt

2 tsp flour

1½ tsp rum 

Topping

75g whole pecans

1 tbs maple syrup

flaky sea salt

To serve

cream

candied rosemary leaves (optional)

Pastry

You’ll only need about half of the pastry dough to make a 15.5 cm tart. The pastry freezes well so just wrap the remaining pastry in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. 

Combine the butter, flour and salt in a food processor and process a few times until the butter is coarsely chopped. Add sufficient water and process just until a dough starts to form around the blade. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate the pastry for an hour before rolling out thinly - 3mm thick - on a floured benchtop. Line a greased 15.5 cm flan tin with the pastry then return to the fridge for another 30 minutes while making the filling. Trim excess pastry.

Frangipane

Chop the butter and place in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and cook on high for about 4 minutes until the butter has browned and smells nutty. Set aside to cool. You can also do this step in a small saucepan on the stove. You will need 50g of the cooled brown butter for this recipe.

In a small bowl, mix together the still liquid browned butter, the sugar and vanilla. Add the egg yolk followed by the nut meal, salt, flour and rum. You should end up with a very soft paste. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm the mixture.

Tart

Preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional. Fill the pastry shell with the frangipane mixture stopping about ½ cm from the top, then level the surface with a knife. Arrange the pecans decoratively over the frangipane. Brush the maple syrup over the pecans then sprinkle with a few sea salt flakes. 

Bake the tart on the centre rack of the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until the frangipane filling has puffed and is golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on a rack and let the tart cool completely before serving. 

If you'd like your tart shiny, then glaze again with maple syrup just before serving. Serve with cream.

I decided to gild the lily a little and topped the tart with a sprig of candied rosemary left over from another project. Just a warning, this is not a very sweet dessert, in fact it's almost savoury, so you might want to increase the sugar in the filling to 75g.

The finished tart looks pretty impressive but it's easy to make. 

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers and see you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now, 

 Jillian

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flour bakery cranberry maple pecan cake

flour bakery cranberry maple pecan cake

27 Jun 2022

I've had this recipe bookmarked since last year's lockdown, an oldie but a goodie from Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery. As the cake contains cranberries, pecans and maple syrup it would make the perfect Thanksgiving cake. 

Even though the original recipe made a loaf cake, I really wanted to make it in a bundt tin because bundt cakes are so pretty. 

Here are all the reasons why you shouldn't bake this cake in a bundt tin. There is maple syrup in the batter and despite how well greased and floured the tin is, as the maple syrup cooks it welds the cake to the tin. 

Secondly, the bundt tin I used is probably closer to a 4 cup tin than a 5 cup tin and the batter overflowed during baking, something I didn't realise until I took the cake out of the oven. The excess batter overflowed into the central hole, once again welding the cake firmly to the tin. 

It took 30 minutes of cooling time with the cake upside down and loads of encouragement from an offset spatula before the cake finally released. You may notice the exterior of cake isn't pristine but I was just grateful the cake came out in 1 piece and not 6 pieces. So please, don't bake this cake in a bundt tin, go the easy route and bake it in a baking paper lined loaf pan. It will be so much easier to unmould.

 

Here's the recipe for you, which will make a 9 x 5 inch loaf or a 5 cup bundt cake. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional oven so if you have a fan-forced oven you may need to reduce the temperature by 20°C. I've made this cake twice now and have made quite a few changes to the original recipe, the link to which can be found below.

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cake -  adapted from ‘Flour’ by Joanne Chang.

Cake
50 gm toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 tbs (10g) cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarb soda
pinch salt
⅔ cup (145g) caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 6 pieces
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
80 mls maple syrup
100 grams fresh or frozen cranberries (not thawed), coarsely chopped

Icing
½ cup (75g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp melted unsalted butter
½ tsp maple extract
1-2 tbs boiling water or milk
pinch of salt

To decorate
2 tbs coarsely chopped toasted pecans
2 tbs chopped dried sweetened cranberries

Method
Centre the rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease and line a small 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking paper or grease and flour a 5 cup bundt tin. Set aside.

Cake
Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached or you can use a handheld mixer. Add the sugar and cubed butter and mix together on medium speed for 3-4 minutes or until the butter is completely mixed in. It should look like coarse meal. If you are using a handheld mixer, you may need to add on a few more minutes.

Place the eggs, vanilla and maple syrup into a jug and whisk together. Add half of the mixture to the butter/flour mixture and beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is pale, light and fluffy. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated. On low speed, add the remaining egg mixture and beat for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl again, turn the mixer to medium speed and mix for another 30 seconds. If the batter is looking too thick then add a tablespoon or so of milk, yoghurt or buttermilk. Use the spatula to fold in the cranberries and pecans then scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

If baking a loaf cake, bake for 60-70 minutes or until the cake is golden and springs back when your press it in the middle with your finger. If the cake is browning too quickly cover with foil or baking paper. You can also use a cake tester and insert it into the centre to see if it comes out clean. A bundt cake will take 40-50 minutes to bake. 

Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool for at 30 minutes before unmoulding and removing the baking paper. If making the cake in a bundt tin, cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Allow the cake to completely cool before icing.

 

 

 

Icing 

Once the cake has cooled, make the icing. Place the icing sugar in a small bowl. Add the melted butter, the maple extract and sufficient boiling water to make a thick but pourable glaze. Add a pinch of salt to counterbalance all the sweetness. If you don't have any maple extract, then just use maple syrup to make the icing. You won't need to use any water or milk.  

 

 

 

Place a tray underneath the cake or a piece of baking paper to catch the drips. Spoon the icing over the cake, letting it run down the sides. If you like, you can decorate the top of the cake with some chopped toasted pecans and cranberry pieces. Let the icing set for about 10 minutes before doing so. 

 

 

 

Allow the icing to completely set before cutting into thin slices. The cake will keep for a few days at room temperature, well-wrapped in plastic wrap.

 

 

This is a nice light cake with a subtle maple flavour. The cranberries give that little pop of freshness and it was a big hit at work.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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pumpkin pie 2018

pumpkin pie 2018

19 Nov 2018

Growing up in Australia, pumpkin pie really wasn't a thing. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving and pumpkins are available all year round. My parents owned a few American cookbooks so when I was 16 I decided to make a pumpkin pie. I was also making apple strudel and attempting croissants at that age, so I was nothing if not international!



I can't remember whether I pre-cooked the pie shell all those years ago but that's what I do these days.



The pumpkin filling is one I've been using for the past few years. I roast the pumpkin first for maximum flavour before mashing it with a fork. I like a smooth filling so I used to pass it through a sieve but my stick blender does such a good job, that step is now superfluous.

Here’s the recipe for you which makes a 23cm/9 inch pie. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Pumpkin Pie
Pastry
250g plain flour 
¼ teaspoon salt 
150g cold butter, diced 
75mls cold water 

Filling
345g (1¼ cups) pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons maple syrup
250ml can Nestle Reduced Fat Cream or you could use regular cream or sour cream
½ cup brown sugar 
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger

To serve
Double cream/icing sugar for dusting/candied pecans (optional)

Method
To make the pastry, on a flat work surface combine the flour and salt and then incorporate the cold diced butter with your fingers. Rub the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are no larger than the size of peas. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the cold water. Using your hands, mix the water into the flour until dough is formed. Or you can pulse the flour, butter and salt together in a food processor 10 times, before adding a little of the water then whizzing the mixture a few times until the dough just starts to come together. Flatten out the dough a little then wrap the dough in plastic and put in the refrigerator for one hour.

Spray the pie dish with olive oil spray. I used the le Creuset heritage pie dish from Everten. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured sheet of baking paper and roll to a 4 mm-thick disc. Line the base and side of the dish with pastry and trim any excess. Pinch edges to crimp then place in the fridge for another hour to rest. I like to make a few leaves for decoration, brushed with milk then heavily dredged with raw sugar and I bake these until golden brown while pre-baking the pastry case.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the pastry case with crumpled baking paper and fill with pastry weights, rice or beans. Bake for 45 minutes or until light golden brown but start checking the pastry at 30 minutes as all ovens are different. My pie crust took an hour to bake. Remove the pie from the oven to a cooling rack and wait 10 minutes before removing the paper and weights. Set aside to cool completely. This step can be done ahead of time.

To make the filling, combine the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, cream, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger in a bowl. Whisk until smooth, then pour through a sieve into a large jug. If you have a stick blender then place everything into the large jug and blend until smooth. No need for the sieve. Place the pie dish on an ovenproof tray, then pour the filling over the pastry. 

Bake in the centre of the 180°C oven for about one hour or until just set but start checking at the 40 minutes mark. Set aside to cool completely then store covered in the fridge. Just before serving, dust the pie with icing sugar if desired. Cut into wedges and serve with double cream and some candied pecans if you're so inclined. (I ate them all, long before the pie was served)

I didn't manage to get a slice of the pie before it disappeared but I guess that's a good sign.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Jillian

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pumpkin pie

pumpkin pie

7 Nov 2016

With a large piece of pumpkin left in my fridge I needed to find a way to use it. I oven roasted a piece and used some of the pumpkin to make a risotto and with the rest, I pureed it and made a pumpkin pie. 



Now I quite like pumpkin pie, but when I looked back through the archives for the recipe I realised I'd not made a pumpkin pie since 2012. How did that happen? 



I decided to use a tried and true recipe and thought I'd pretty up the pie by applying leaf shaped cut outs to the rim. Bad idea. Don't do it. The leaves kind of disintegrated during the blind baking so I had to make a new batch of leaves that I applied to the baked pie. 



To make them a bit more special I put veins on the leaves, glazed the leaves with milk and topped the cut-outs with some granulated sugar.



It's a bit of a fiddle but I think the pie looks pretty, so the effort was worth it and you can bake these the same time the pie crust is blind baking in the oven. They should take about 10 minutes to reach golden brownness.



I topped the pie with some icing sugar to pretty it up a little and served the pie with a dollop of cream.



If you'd like to make the pie, here's the recipe for you, adapted from here. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe 
Pastry
Olive oil spray
250g (1⅔ cups) Plain Flour
2 teaspoons caster sugar
160g butter, chilled, chopped
2 tablespoons cold water

Filling
345g (1¼ cups) pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons maple syrup
250ml reduced fat cream or half and half
½-⅔ cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger

To serve
Icing sugar, to dust
Double cream, to serve

Method
Spray a 23cm/9 inch pie plate with oil. Process the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor until the butter is in pea size pieces. Add the cold water and process the mixture a few times until the pastry just comes together. Remove the pastry from the food processor, gently squeeze the pastry together into a ball and wrap in plastic. Place in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 190°C. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured sheet of baking paper and roll to a 4mm-thick disc. Line the base and side of the dish with pastry and trim any excess. Pinch edges to crimp. The amount of pastry is generous so if you like you can cut out some leaf shapes to decorate the cooked pie.

Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove paper and weights or rice and bake for a further 10- 15 minutes or until light golden. Set aside to cool completely.

Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C. Combine the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger in a bowl. Whisk until smooth then pour over the pastry (I like a very smooth texture so I sieve the mixture first before pouring into the shell). Bake for 45 - 55 minutes or until just set. Set aside to cool completely.



Dust the cooled pie with icing sugar. Cut into wedges and serve with double cream.



The pie filling is barely sweet using ½ cup of brown sugar so if you like a sweeter pie filling, I'd increase the sugar to ⅔ cup and check the filling for sweetness before baking.



A nice slice of pie. I might see you later in the week with some jacaranda photos, otherwise I'll see you all again next week with another little pumpkin flavoured treat.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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pecan pie cake(s)

pecan pie cake(s)

10 Oct 2016

It's not autumn here in Sydney by any means, in fact the weather has been more summer than spring. However most people I follow on instagram live in the Northern hemisphere and their feeds are filled with photos of the changing seasons.



With that thought in mind I made something very autumnal during the Long Weekend, which I thought would be perfect for Thanksgiving. It's a cross between a pecan pie and a cake and I found the original recipe in the August 10-16 2016 issue of the Brisbane News. 



The original recipe suggested making mini loaf cakes or muffins but I decided to bake the cake in a pie tin. I covered the holes with baking paper to prevent any leakage. I had a little leftover cake mixture so I made a little cake as well, just for the cook. 



The recipe is designed to be served with caramel sauce so I used my go-to recipe from Belinda Jeffery with the addition of a touch of sea salt.



The cake itself is nice and moist but barely sweet so if you're planning to serve it without the caramel sauce I would add a little more brown sugar to the cake, maybe an extra ¼ - ⅓ cup.



Here's the recipe for you adapted just a little from a recipe by Caroline Jones of Skipping Girls Cafe in Brisbane. I found the recipe in the Brisbane News August 10-16 2016 issue.  For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.



Pecan ‘Pie’ Cakes (makes 8 cakes or one 9 inch pie)
150g unsalted butter, softened
180g (1 cup) brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g (⅔ cup) self raising flour 

150g pecans, processed to a rough meal

Crumble Topping
80g pecans, roughly chopped
60g plain flour
50g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter, softened

Belinda Jeffery's Caramel Sauce

½ cup cream

110g firmly packed soft brown sugar
35g caster sugar
30ml maple syrup
30ml golden syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch sea salt

Method

To make the caramel sauce, put all the ingredients except the sea salt into a smallish, heavy-based saucepan. Sit the pan over high heat and stir the mixture just until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and bring it to the boil. Let it bubble rapidly until a sugar thermometer registers 108°C. Take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool for at least 20 minutes then add a pinch of sea salt to balance out the sweetness. You can use the sauce warm, or store it in the fridge in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 weeks. It tends to separate a little when it’s cold, but just give it a good stir and it comes back together. Makes about a cup.

Cake
Preheat oven to 170°C, conventional. Grease, flour and line 8 mini loaf tins or muffin tins or the base of a 9 inch pie plate. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until pale and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl intermittently. Beat in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract. Remove the bowl from the stand and use a wooden spoon to fold through the flour and pecan meal until evenly combined and then spoon into the prepared tin(s).

Topping
To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and rub between your fingertips to combine. Sprinkle the crumbly topping over the mini cakes or pie and bake for 15-20 minutes for the small cakes or 40 minutes for the pie or until a skewer when inserted, comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin(s) for several minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool slightly before serving topped with cream and caramel sauce.



Next time I wouldn't decorate the cake with extra pecans as they got a little too sunburnt in my brother's oven.

In a complete coincidence I discovered today is Thanksgiving in Canada so happy thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends.

Until next time,

Jillian

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ginger pecan slice

ginger pecan slice

23 Nov 2015

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, pecan pie recipes started popping up all over the internet a few weeks ago and this recipe by Allison Kave attracted the most attention. It sounded nice but I didn't want to make pie. I thought a ginger flavoured pecan slice would be a nice option, that way I'd get the flavours of Thanksgiving without the bother of making pastry.





I found a recipe for a coffee pecan slice in my copy of the Australian Women's Weekly Baking Collection. The book was a subscription gift and until now, I've not made anything from it. I used the base from the recipe and adapted the filling to reflect the flavourings of the bourbon ginger pecan pie recipe.





The slice is pretty simple to make - just a buttery shortbread base topped with a ginger flavoured pecan pie type filling. Instead of maple syrup I used golden syrup and used Bundaberg rum instead of bourbon. I am after all a girl from Brissie.



Once the slice was cooked, I let it cool for a while so the base would harden.



Once the slice was cold, I cut myself a piece and poured a nice cup of tea. 



I sat down to enjoy my cup of tea with my ginger pecan square. The base isn't as crisp as I expected so next time I'd only use plain flour in the base. The ginger flavour develops over time so they're even nicer the day after baking.



Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Ginger Pecan Slice (makes 24 pieces)

Base

125 g (4 oz) butter, cut into cubes

¼ cup (55g)) caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (150 g) plain flour

¼ cup (38 g) self-raising flour, sifted

Topping

1½ tbs plain flour

⅓ cup (75g) brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tbs finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

pinch salt

2 eggs

½ cup golden syrup

60 g (2 oz) unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp rum (optional)

2 cups whole toasted pecans

Base

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Grease and line base and sides of a 30cm x 20cm pan with baking paper. Ensure baking paper extends 2cm above rim of pan.

In a small bowl cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift the 2 flours together and add to the butter mixture in 2 batches. Press the mixture into base of prepared pan smoothing with back of a spoon. Bake for 12 minutes until just golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and let the base cool for 10 minutes. While the base is cooling, reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F and prepare the topping. 

Topping

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. In a small jug, combine the eggs with the remaining ingredients; gradually pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the topping over the base, and then arrange the pecans over the topping. Return to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes until the top has puffed and is golden. Remove the slice from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan, before using the paper to lift out onto a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve. 

The slice will keep for a week in an airtight container.

As the recipe yields 24 pieces and I'm not a greedy piggy, I've put a few pieces aside for the cook (that would be me) and took some to my neighbours. The rest, I'll be sharing with my workmates.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends after the sadness of last week. See you again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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