Martha Rose Shulman's Pecan Pie

I suppose I should have known that when attempting to bake three pies in one day - the most important food day of the year, I might add - one cannot expect all three of them to shine. If you have already managed a glorious squash pie and a stellar apple pie, well, then it must not be good karma to have your pecan pie dazzle, too. Which is too bad, because it certainly looked the most promising.

The recipe came from an article on pecans in the LA Times in 2001. The delicate filling called for honey and rum instead of corn syrup. I figured it might be a nice change from the traditionally sweet and sticky version. Well, I figured wrong. The pie looked absolutely gorgeous - a toasty brown filling that puffed up nicely in the oven and then squidged down into the all-butter crust - but tasted totally odd. Like...soap! I can't figure out why: rum, butter, honey and vanilla, not to mention a mess of pecans straight from Texas, these are all good-tasting things. How in the name of turkeys everywhere did this combination go so wrong?

First, I beat together butter and honey into a gorgeously unctuous cream that practically begged to be smeared on toast or waffles.

To that I added rum, vanilla, eggs, salt and nutmeg. When the pie crust was rolled out, fitted into a tart pan and chilled, I parbaked it for five minutes, which really only seemed to make it greasy.

In went the pecans in an even layer,

and then the filling was poured over.

The pie went into the oven and baked for about 15 minutes longer than specified, until the nuts were browned and the filling had puffed up.

Ms. Shulman says that people like her pie because it's less sweet, but that's just no justification for this misbegotten pie that tastes of suds. Pecan pie was meant to be tooth-achingly sweet and chewy, the better to eat with a pile of whipped cream. Next time, I'll be looking elsewhere for a real pecan pie. Any suggestions?

Comments

[Georgia]

How awfull! But if the other two turned out wonderfully, what more can you ask for? I never liked pecan pie before my mom started making her grandmother's version, which is fantastic (and has that perfect sweetness that pecan pie is all about). My mom and I have been planning Christmas dinner via email, so I can probably get you her recipe in time for the next biggest food day of the year if you're interested.

[Luisa]

Georgia - your great-grandmother's recipe? Oh, yes please! The history alone is sure to make for good pie. Thank you!

[Marc]

A pecan pie suggestion: Frontera Grill's Chocolate Pecan Pie looks fabulous, but I have never tried baking it. The crust is a classic pie crust. The filling, however, has chocolate, kahlua, molasses, and dark brown sugar in addition to the usual pecans, light corn syrup, butter and eggs. The recipe is on-line at Bayless's site (fronterafoods.comcooking/recipes/desserts.html).

The butternut squash pie of a few posts back looks fantastic, and I put it on my "to bake" list for the month. The buckwheat cookies are intriguing. Thanks for writing about them.

[Luisa]

Marc - I hope you like the butternut pie, I'm so glad it jumped out at you! And the cookies, too.

And thank you for the Bayless tip/link, the pie sounds decadent!