Pecan Pie

According to the chart of pies I posted earlier, January was pecan pie month. Not a fan of pecan pie, I have been reluctant to make it. But particularly unpleasant January weather and a fancy new camera motivated me to make it anyway. Although I can't say that I enjoyed eating this pie, making it turned out to be a fun way to spend another night cooped up inside. Plus I tricked a friend into doing most of the work, and I even got the bonus of being introduced to the Traveling Wilburys.  

There are only a few ingredients in this pie. Eggs, sugar, salt, butter, corn syrup and pecans (plus the flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening you'll need for the crust). Thank you, Kristin, for giving me your mom's recipe.  

Make the tried-and-true pie crust, or buy a ready-prepared crust. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat 3 eggs, 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, 1/3 cup melted butter (not too warm because that will cook the eggs), and one cup of corn syrup in the totally-not-superfluous  KitchenAid mixer.   

You'll end up with this oh so appetizing yellow liquid that does not call to mind bile. Not at all.

Then mix in one cup of pecans. I crushed half and kept half intact.

Roll out your crust and line a pie dish with it. Then pour in the pecan-syrup mixture.

Bake 40-50 minutes, or until the center is set. It'll come out looking like this:

It turned out with a layered quality that didn't seem quite right, possibly because I overcooked it a bit (for about 55 minutes). There was a gelatinous layer on the bottom, a crisp sugar layer over that, and a layer of pecans on top. 

But it wasn't terrible with a touch of whipped cream. 

Pecan Pie

3 eggs 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup butter, melted 1 cup dark or light corn syrup 1 cup pecans, broken or whole is fine Prepare pastry in advance. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and syrup with rotary beater. Stir in nuts. Pour into pastry-lined pan. Cover the edge of the crust with foil to prevent it from burning. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set.