TWD: My Favorite Pecan Pie (my pick!!)

When I first joined TWD last year, the blogroll list was so long that I calculated my turn would be sometime around late 2010. Guess I miscalculated, huh?

I was so excited to pick this week's recipe. I carefully perused Baking: From My Home to Yours and marked the recipes I wanted to bake (Cranberry Upsidedown Cake! Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Muffins! Sweet Cream Biscuits!) and then handed the book over to Alex for his input. If you haven't ever heard me mention it before, my husband loves pie. Loves it more than I love shoes (which is a LOT.) Once he spied the recipe for My Favorite Pecan Pie and turned those puppy eyes to me, I couldn't say no. Seriously, folks...this man loves pie.

Oh, boy, is this recipe a doozy! Dorie takes your ordinary pecan pie and turns the volume WAY up with the kick of espresso powder and bittersweet chocolate. It's rich, decadent, and perfectly oooey gooey, with just the right counter-balance to the sweetness. I made it for my work potluck on Monday and had to snag a small piece before it totally disappeared*.

I am going to make this again for Christmas dinner on Friday, but I'll cut the espresso powder down to one teaspoon instead of two. I loved the coffee flavor, but thought that it overpowered the chocolate and pecans just a little too much. Thank you, TWD Bakers, for baking along with me this week and for indulging my husband's choice of recipe.

Happy Holidays to you and your families and thank you for a wonderful year of recipes!!

Dorie's (and now Alex's) Favorite Pecan Pie

Ingredients:
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (about 7 ounces) pecan halves or pieces
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 9-inch single crust made with Good for Almost Everything Dough, partially baked and cooled

Instructions:
Getting ready: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

In a large bowl, whisk the corn syrup and brown sugar together until smooth.. Whisk in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until you have a smooth, foamy mixture. Add the espresso powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and give the batter a good mix. Rap the bowl against the counter a couple of times to pop any bubbles that might have formed, then stir in the pecans and chocolate. Turn the filling into the crust.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make a foil shield for the crust by cutting a 9-inch circle out of the center of an 11-or 12-inch square of aluminum foil.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Place the foil shield on top of the pie—the filling will be exposed, the crust covered by the foil. Bake the pie for another 15 to 20 minutes (total baking time is 30 to 35 minutes), or until it has puffed (the middle and the edges should be fairly evenly puffed), is beautifully browned and no longer jiggles when tapped. Transfer the pie plate to a rack, remove the shield and cool to room temperature.

Serving: Pecan pie is good at any temperature, and different at each one. It’s softest and most puddingish eaten warm (about 45 minutes out of the oven), most flavorful eaten at room temperature and most candy-like when it is chilled. At any temperature, it’s good with ice cream—vanilla, chocolate or coffee would be my choices.

Storing: Once cooled to room temperature, the pie can be covered and refrigerated for 1 day.

Playing Around: If all you want is a great plain pecan pie, omit the cinnamon, espresso and chocolate. If you want a sweeter pie, increase the amount of corn syrup to 1 cup.

*someone pointed out the hilarious irony that Alex selected this recipe and then didn't get to taste any of it! He was stuck in Brooklyn an extra night due to the snow, poor guy! No worries, though, I'm making a second pie and he can have as much of it as he wants.