It is the day after Halloween, so I guess this means that holiday season is here. I adore the holiday season, and I've already gotten a jumpstart on indulging in pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider. Since it is officially November, I decided to shift away from the fruit pies and into the seasonal pies. After all, part of the reason that I have made it my mission to bake good pie is so that I can bake my own pumpkin and pecan pies. (And, I'm a little bored in the baking department, and I needed a new challenge.)
I had another baking fiasco today. The good news is that I think I'm getting the hang of pie crust. I might be getting good at it. I no longer need to give myself a pre pie crust pep talk, and I no longer need to coax or cajole the dough into the pie dish. And, there are no obscenities anymore. So, the pie crust is coming along, and I'm even thinking about experimenting with different recipes.
Today I made a Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, a recipe I dug up on the Food Network website, courtesy of Emeril. I toasted some pecans and put them in the pie dish. Then I mixed corn syrup, melter butter, eggs, vanilla, molasses, and brown sugar and poured the mixture into the shell. Like magic, the pecans rose to the top. Then I baked the pie, but I had some trouble. The filling refused to set, so I had to give the pie extra baking time. Well, the extra time compromised the quality of my crust. I used a pie protector to protect the edge, but the crust burned anyway. And the pie got really dark on top. After pulling the pie from the oven, I poured bourbon over the top and let it penetrate the pie. I made a chocolate ganache (is that redundant?) and spread that over the top of the pie.
I read somwehere that the average person puts on about 7 pounds during the holiday season. Now I know why. This pie was very, very rich. It wasn't very good, and that had nothing to do with the overcooked and burnt crust. The chocolate was simply overpowering and completely dominated the pie. It was kind of like eating hot fudge ice cream topping laced with pecans. (I've never done such a thing, but this is how I imagine it to be) I might be able to salvage the pie if I scrape off the layer of offending chocolate and bypass the crust.
I'll try my hand at pecan pie in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I'll give pumpkin pie a go.
I had another baking fiasco today. The good news is that I think I'm getting the hang of pie crust. I might be getting good at it. I no longer need to give myself a pre pie crust pep talk, and I no longer need to coax or cajole the dough into the pie dish. And, there are no obscenities anymore. So, the pie crust is coming along, and I'm even thinking about experimenting with different recipes.
Today I made a Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, a recipe I dug up on the Food Network website, courtesy of Emeril. I toasted some pecans and put them in the pie dish. Then I mixed corn syrup, melter butter, eggs, vanilla, molasses, and brown sugar and poured the mixture into the shell. Like magic, the pecans rose to the top. Then I baked the pie, but I had some trouble. The filling refused to set, so I had to give the pie extra baking time. Well, the extra time compromised the quality of my crust. I used a pie protector to protect the edge, but the crust burned anyway. And the pie got really dark on top. After pulling the pie from the oven, I poured bourbon over the top and let it penetrate the pie. I made a chocolate ganache (is that redundant?) and spread that over the top of the pie.
I read somwehere that the average person puts on about 7 pounds during the holiday season. Now I know why. This pie was very, very rich. It wasn't very good, and that had nothing to do with the overcooked and burnt crust. The chocolate was simply overpowering and completely dominated the pie. It was kind of like eating hot fudge ice cream topping laced with pecans. (I've never done such a thing, but this is how I imagine it to be) I might be able to salvage the pie if I scrape off the layer of offending chocolate and bypass the crust.
I'll try my hand at pecan pie in a few weeks, but in the meantime, I'll give pumpkin pie a go.
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