How did we manage before the invention of Google and its search engines? I go to it often in researching or searching for recipes. And the latest was my discovery of ChefSteps, a site that focuses on cooking technique, recipes, and various how-to features. Most of their recipes have videos showing how to prepare the recipe. The Seattle-based group is led by some 50 contributors of writers, photographers, chefs, etc., who are experts in their field.
I’ve been trying to make a decent pecan pie, following recipes from various cookbooks, but I was not pleased with any of them. I looked at ChefSteps and found one of the most unusual methods of preparation, which ultimately offered the best pecan pie. My judge was a friend of mine who’s a self-proclaimed pecan-pie maven.
Deep dish pecan pie
Several steps, however, gave me pause. It’s their theory that to make a perfect shortcrust or pâte brisée it’s accomplished by using bread flour instead of all-purpose or pastry flour. Their premises is based on this explanation:
Its protein content [of standard all-purpose flour] affects the way the dough absorbs water, can vary from season to season and brand to brand. Bread flour is engineered to have around 12 percent protein content, allowing us to get a better and more consistent result.
The pastry, they say, is a very buttery dough, one that’s extremely crisp rather than flaky. I prefer a flaky style pastry made with both butter and lard, and I use soft winter wheat flour preferred by southern bakers. Southern flours like White Lily, Martha White or Southern Biscuit (my favorite) are not available at stores in New England. I get it mail order by the caseload and use it exclusively as my go-to flour for all baking. (If you use White Lily, unless a recipe specifically states to use it by brand name, add 2 tablespoons flour for each cup of all-purpose flour specified in the recipe. Martha White and Southern Biscuit can be used as is.)
I asked the opinion of one of Portland’s pastry chefs, Lynette Krajewski, who is the baker at Tiqa restaurant. Her opinion was that bread flour was way too tough to use in pastries.
I made the pie and dough according to their instructions and I have to say it was a wonderful dough. It doesn’t yield a flaky dough but instead it’s a very firm, buttery pastry that works quite well for savory or sweet pies.
The pie was a deep dish pie baked in a 3-inch deep springform pan, which in itself was a great touch, yielding this high, thick mass of pecans in a very sweet filling.
The dough is a little tough to work with, and I think it needed a bit more liquid than specified. But the results were fantastic.
Working with the dough is tricky to fit into the springform pan but worth the effort
The site offers a video of how to prepare the pastry and the pie. Just go to their search field and look for pecan pie for the how-to on preparing it. Note that the recipe is given in weights so you’ll need a digital scale set to on “grams.”
I’ve made a few minor changes in adapting the recipe from ChefSteps, but it’s essentially the same procedure, with some helpful hints on how to prepare it. You ca also halve the recipe and fit it into one standard 9-inch pie pan; but the double deep-dish pie is truly magnificent.
Note: to measure the liquid ingredients (such as the water in the pie dough and other liquid ingredients) put a glass measuring cup or small mixing bowl on a digital scale set on grams and pour in the liquid until you get the desired reading.
Note: go to ChefSteps site and watch the video on how to prepare the pecan pie. Very helpful.
Deep dish pecan pie
Ingredients
- 250 grams bread flour
- 205 grams butter, cubed and chilled
- 3 grams (about 1/2 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 55 grams ice water
- 7 large eggs
- 290 grams brown sugar
- 450 grams light corn syrup (about 12 ounces)
- 4.5 grams (about 3/4 teaspoon) kosher salt
- Vanilla bean seed, from 4 beans
- 45 grams bourbon
- 75 grams butter, cubed
- 340 grams pecan halves
Instructions
- Pastry. Place flour, salt, and cubes of butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place bowl of ingredients and even the paddle attachment in the refrigerator until cold, about 30 minutes. You want to keep all ingredients as cool as possible throughout the process.
- Using paddle attachment, mix on low until crumbly ( coarse crumbs). Add the ice water and mix on medium low speed until the dough comes together smoothly, about 1 minute. Add more water if necessary to bring the dough together. It should be moderately moist.
- Remove dough from mixing bowl onto a lightly floured board and form into smooth ball. Flour hands and board as needed.
- Press ball into a disk about 1.5 inches thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
- Roll out dough on floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. Place in 3-inch-deep springform pan, fitting it in so that you have an overhang of at least 1 inch; flute the overhang and refrigerate for 1 hour before filling.
- Filling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, vanilla bean seeds, and bourbon. To seed the vanilla pods, cut in half with a sharp knife but not going all the way through. Then spread the bean flat and with the point of a knife scrape out the seeds.
- Melt butter and whisk into mixture until thick and gooey. Add the pecans and mix well with a wooden spoon or whisk.
- Remove the crust from the refrigerator and trim the fluted overhang to about 1 inch draped over the rim of the pan. Pour in the filling. Put on a sheet pan lined with parchment. And bake for about 40 minutes or until the temperature reaches 201 degrees on an instant read thermometer probe inserted 1 inch deep into the pie. The pie might rise and puff when it’s baked through and that’s another sign that it’s done. It should take about 40 minutes to 1 hour.
- While still warm, trim crust around rim of pan for a sexier pie. Remove sides of springform pan. Let cool to room temperature before serving.
