pecan pie must die

first and foremost.  hope everyone had a happy valentines day. we sure did.

ribs, sweet potato, and trader joes frugal joe's light beer.  we intended on having dessert, but we got distracted with a not-so great chick flick.  dear john.  any thoughts?  the ending was blah.

yesterday also marked the tenth anniversary the first date i had with my husband.  i have been with him for a third of my entire life.  i can't seem to find a picture of us back in the day, but this should suffice.  this is the summer after we started dating.

my hunk.

well, i'm just going to dive right in.

this past summer i had the displeasure of having a slice of authentic pecan pie.  i say authentic, but what i mean is that is was made by a real southern lady.  she may have very well butchered the recipe, which may have been the case.  it was so sweet, i could have sworn all my teeth were going to fall out over night.

and i like sweet things.

i love pecans.  the way they smell after roasting them for a few minutes is incredible.  so, i was utterly disappointed how this woman butchered my beloved nuts.  (i'm trying to contain the school girl giggles).

thankfully, i have my go-to recipe for an amazing pecan dessert.  it was one that i had used when i had my dessert cafe. it was my best-seller, by far.  one of my favorite customers was from georgia, he liked this better than the "beloved"...barf...pecan pie.

caramel. pecan. tart.

what a better reason to make this than friends coming together that have been separated by time zones.  our dear friends kyle and michele came to jersey for official work, but glad they were able to fit us into their busy schedule.  hubby was his best man for their wedding last year and dd was the sweetest little flower girl.  special people get special desserts.

first, you need pecans*.  two and a half cups of them coarsely chopped.

scatter them on a jelly-roll sheet.  bake in the oven for five to eight minutes at 350° .

while they are cooling down, you can make your crust.  the crust is basically a shortbread.  and when there's shortbread...there's butter!!!  (just be sure that your butter is NOT room temp.)

two cups flour.
two thirds cup powdered sugar.
one and a half cups butter.

flour in.  powdered sugar in. butter in.

as you can see, i attempted to use a pastry blender, but i gave up and threw it all in my food processor.  a food processor will make this job much easier and give it consistent texture.  be sure to use the pulse function.

the mixture will look like course meal.  i even throw it in the fridge for a few minutes to make sure the butter does not get the least bit soft.

dump the meal into an eleven inch tart pan.

spread it around. i like to do the sides first.  this recipe make more than enough crust to go around.

once the meal is spread out to the sides, pull it up the sides and press so that it stays in place.

do this all the way around the pan.

with all the extra meal, spread it so that it covers evenly on the bottom.

then start pressing.

i prefer to place the tart pan on a cookie sheet while in the oven.  i have grabbed the pan one too many times and have created a hot mess when the pan pieces separate.

place the crust in the oven for fifteen minutes.  or just until it become light brown along the edges.

while the crust is baking, we can prep the filling.

two thirds cup of butter.
half a cup of honey.
half a cup of packed brown sugar.

in a 2.5 quart saucepan heat the ingredients on medium heat.  stirring frequently.

once it has become a consistent mixture.  add three tablespoons of heavy cream.

stir some more.

add pecans.  stir it up to coat all pecans.

the crust should be done by now.

let the crust cool for a few minutes.

pour in the mixture and spread out with a spatula.  be gentle though, the crust is tender.

pop the tart in the oven for twenty minutes or until the caramel is bubbling all around the pan.

let pan sit out to cool completely.

and there you have it, folks.  doesn't it look pretty.

my picture is shoddy...someone's shutter speed was a little too slow...maybe because $hellbug needs to replace fifty percent of the lightbulbs in her dining room.  just maybe.

let me know how it works out for you.

here's the southern living link where i got the recipe.

thanks for stopping by!

jill


*i have substituted walnuts when i would run out.  it was still good, but the pecans are much better.