Pecan Pie

As I might have mentioned the Very Tolerant Boyfriend and I had an American themed dinner party a few weeks ago.  Things have been a bit hectic since then, so I’ve only just got round to writing up the dessert.

Pastry ingredients: 

• 220g unsalted butter 
• 550g plain flour 
• 160g caster sugar 
• 1 large egg
• Tablespoons of iced water as required

Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 110g unsalted butter
• 226g light brown sugar 
• 110g golden syrup 
• 3 large eggs 
• 260g pecans chopped (save some as halves to decorate the top) 

25cm loose bottomed tin.

Blitz together the pastry, adding the water at the end as required.  I used a food processor rather than rubbing it in by hand.  Wrap the pastry in clingfim and leave in the fridge for half an hour.

Roll out the pastry and line the tin.  I left the edges hanging over after a disastrous experience with shrinking pastry on the first attempt.  Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork and return to the fridge for another half an hour.  Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper and place baking beans on top of this, then bake blind at 150C for ten minutes, before removing the paper and beans and baking for another ten minutes.

Remove the tin from the oven and leave to cool. 

Make the filling by melting together the syrup, butter and sugar, once melted together set aside to cool slightly. Roughly chop the pecans and scatter in the bottom of the pastry case.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, just enough to break them up.  Add the slightly cooled sugar, butter and syrup mix to the eggs, be sure to stir continuously while you are doing this.

Pour the resultant mixture over the chopped pecans.  Take the saved half pecans and use them to decorate round the edge of the top of the pie.  Return to the oven and bake for 30 mins at 150C, reduce the temp to 140C and continue to bake for another 20 mins.  The pie should be slightly wobbly in the middle when you remove it from the oven.

Leave to cool.  For added decadence I served this with a small scoop of pecan and bourbon ice-cream from my last post.  It went down pretty well at the dinner party, but there was loads left over. I could have used 2/3s of the recipe and a much smaller tin.

Salted pecan and bourbon ice cream

It's been gorgeous weather recently, so good that I've indulged in another gadget that I won't use nearly as much as I should and that will prevent me from ever selling my house as I realise I'll never have as much cupboard space as I do now; an ice cream maker.  I remember my mother buying one of these in what must have been the early nineties and making mars bar ice cream for us.  I found the flavour idea for this on pinterest then adapted a BBC Good Food recipe for the base custard.  The result is very good and I'll update with some pictures when I've actually served it to people.

I should probably start by saying that I’ve made far too much of this for a dinner party of four people.  Half quantities would be LOADS.  Seriously.  Half everything.  The Very Tolerant Boyfriend will be eating this for ages.  I am not sure that’s a terrible thing as it is very nice.  Also, it’s too much to fit in an ice cream maker in one go, so it had to be made over two days.  Have I mentioned half would be fine?

600ml carton double cream

600ml full fat milk

230g golden caster sugar

Vanilla Essence

6 large free-range egg yolks

¼ cup Bourbon

120g pecans (oven roasted in butter and salt)

Take the Pecan, toss in some melted butter, scatter over some sea salt and pop on a lined baking tray in the oven for 30 minutes at 180C.

Ensure that the canister from the ice cream machine is properly frozen (at least 24 hours, don’t be tricked into thinking it’ll be ok after 2 hours.  It won’t be)

Mix together the cream, milk, vanilla and bourbon in a pan and bring to the edge of the boil.

Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the rest of the sugar and beat with an electric hand beater for about 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened, is paler in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the beaters. Using a measuring jug, scoop out about half of the cream mixture and beat into the egg yolks to slacken them. Reheat the cream until it just comes to the boil, take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.

Return the whole lot to the heat and cook, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.  The mixture will thicken to a custard and stay separated on the back of a spoon when tested.  Allow the mixture to cool, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming.  Put in the fridge overnight so it is properly cooled.

Add to the ice cream maker and churn for 30-40 mins.  Once the ice cream is done, stir through the pecans and put in a sealed container in the freezer until required.

Rose, Honey, Salted Tart

I had some friends round for dinner the other night, and decided to try a new recipe out.  Including making my own pastry (something I’ve previously ignored).   This of course seemed like a less good idea, when I was half way through on one of the hottest days of the year so far with no alternative dessert to offer them if this one went tits up.  

Fortunately it all turned out ok in the end, and I think it’s something I’ll make again.  I even got to serve it with some of our home-grown strawberries and a quenelle of vanilla cream.

I suspect I've also finally come around to thinking that homemade pastry is much better.

Ingredients:

 Rose Pastry

2 and 1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup butter, cold and hard

1 tablespoon rose water

4-7 tablespoons ice water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Salted Rose & Honey Filling 

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons corn flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons rose water

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1/2 cup cream

Salt For Sprinkling – 2-3 teaspoons of good quality sea salt, depending how salty you like it to be

First make the pastry. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the cold butter, cut into as small pieces as you can manage.  I used  the food processor to make mine.   Blitz together the dry ingredients and the butter, them add in the rosewater before slowly adding  a couple of tablespoons of iced water (one at a time), until the pastry comes together.

Line the tart cases, leaving some hanging over the top, this can be trimmed later. Pop in the fridge for ten minutes.  Then line with foil and baking beans and blind bake for ten minutes at 170C. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before starting on the filling.

Preheat the oven to 170C. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the eggs and cream until smooth. Set aside. Combine the butter, sugar, salt, and cornflour until well blended. Add the rose water, honey, vanilla, and vinegar and mix until combined, then fold in the egg mixture until incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the cases and bake for 35-45 minutes until the top of the tart turns golden brown and the custard sets.  Leave the tarts at room temp for two hours before serving, trim any excess pastry before plating up. 

Rocky Road Chocolate Treat

What do new mothers want most?  Other than a good night’s sleep, I understand that the answer is ALL THE SUGAR IN THE WORLD.  Presumably to keep them going when they’re cluster feeding at 3am and then need to get up again at 6.

My gorgeous big sister has just had her second baby, and I’m off to see them next week.  I’ve knocked together one of the most decadently calorific treats that I can think of for her.  It keeps and travels well and is always well received.  This is a recipe that I was given by my friend Helen, which I don’t make often because it’s incredibly bad for you. 

Rocky Road

300g chocolate (70% coco solids if possible)

125g butter

3 tbspns Golden Syrup

Bag of mini marshmallows

Large bag of malteasers

Box of white chocolate finger biscuits

Box of dark chocolate finger biscuits

Tub of glacier cherry halves

Plain flour

Icing sugar.

Take all of the dry ingredients. Crush the malteasers into large pieces, break up the fingers and combine along with the marshmallows and cherries in large bowl.  Sieve in a couple of teaspoons of icing sugar and toss until all the ingredients are coated.

Melt together the chocolate, butter and syrup over a water bath. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.  Stir in tablespoons of plain flour, one at a time. You want the chocolate to lose its gloss slightly and become slightly plastic looking.  Normally 2-3 spoons of flour is enough for me.

Pour the chocolate mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined.  Pour into a Clingfilm lined cake tray and smooth the top.  Put in the fridge overnight and then dust with icing sugar and cut into bars (or small squares, really small ones)

Gluten free brownies

My best friend has had problems with gluten for as long as I’ve known her.  At times she’s been really ill with her gluten intolerance, but she’s also had extended periods where it’s been ok.  Unfortunately she’s moved back into a phase where it’s making her really sick again.

So to cheer her up, and so that she doesn’t have to go without cake, I knocked up a couple of batches of Flourless Brownies.  She can stick them in the freezer and have a square every time she needs a sweet treat.  I think I’ll be looking at some more gluten free recipes before long.

225 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

225 grams butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

200 grams caster sugar

3 large eggs (beaten)

150 grams ground almonds

100 grams chopped walnuts

Melt the chocolate over a water bath and then stir in the butter.  When these are completely combined mix in the vanilla extract.  Leave to cool slightly.

Whisk together the sugar and eggs and then pour in the chocolate/butter mixture.  Stir until fully combined. 

Add the ground almonds and chopped walnuts and stir until combined.  Cook at 170C for 25-30 minutes. Cut while warm in the tin, leave to cool.  Then remove from the pan and freeze.

These are delicious whether you’re gluten intolerant or not.