Tag Archives: pecan pie recipe

Pecan Pie, Me Oh My!

Posted in baking, cooking, pie, travel by
omnomnom

Holy cow, pecan pie is NUTS. Pun fully intended. I’ve never made pecan pie before this adventure, & now that it’s over, I know why. I’m fairly certain that the time spent on this recipe – research, prep, more research, cooking, more research, cooling – is the most I’ve spent on anything I’ve ever made. The hours of reading, weighing conflicting opinions, searching for the best substitutes for corn syrup, the uncertainty caused by a pie that will not set up, by the air bubbles that rose from my carefully spoon-mixed filling, by the blind trust I’ve put in my oven’s temperature – why would I, or anyone, put myself through this when I can buy a pie that everyone will love in any grocery, market, or gas station? I have to say, having expended great effort, slaving away & melting in my steamy apartment, driving the cats to spend the thick afternoon lolling on the bathroom tile to escape my madness, the result is completely, 100% worth it all. I don’t think I have ever been prouder, & I don’t think one of my pies has ever been tastier. & in a weird way, I owe it all to the Amish & NYC drivers who suck at parking.

Thank you, the Amish, for pie & good parking etiquette.

Thank you, the Amish, for everything.
Things I have learned about pecan pie from this experience:
1. This pie is hard.
2. There are (give or take) 875 different ways to prepare this pie.
3. Every one of these variations is “the best,” “foolproof,” & the way to fix/avoid whatever problems you might have making this pie.
4. You will have problems making this pie.
5. Corn syrup is a major ingredient in the modern recipes for this pie.
6. Cane syrup, the most popular alternative to corn syrup for this pie, has corn syrup as its first & most prominent ingredient.
7. Other non-corn syrup ingredients call for molasses, whose first & most-prominent ingredient is corn syrup.
8. Blanching & toasting pecans makes them insanely delicious.
9. Oven temperature is unreliable, but it hardly matters until you use lower temperatures. Then it matters, a lot.
10. This pie is hard, but once you have made it & it doesn’t suck, you kind of feel like you can do anything. Avoid settings that offer the possibility of extreme or death-defying activities.