Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bourbon Pecan Tart

As much as we love it, we have never made a pecan pie in our own kitchen until now. Why not? We swore off of corn syrup in any form years ago, and it's the base of most pecan pie recipes. Our pecan tart skips the corn syrup by featuring good old brown rice syrup, an ingredient easily found at Whole Foods, in its place. We added a little bourbon to keep things interesting. The result is a delicious pecan flavor that's not cloyingly sweet or gooey. This one is as keeper that'll definitely find its way onto our holiday dessert table.


Make your own crust and whipped cream for this tart, and maybe you'll fall in love with pecan pie again, too. 


Bourbon Pecan Tart


Pie Dough (recipe follows)
2 cups unsalted pecans (toasted)
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup firm packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 teaspoon Maldon sea salt flakes
1/4 cup soy margarine (like Earth Balance with olive oil)
2 tablespoons bourbon
Easy Whipped Cream (to garnish; recipe follows)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make the pie dough and set it aside in the refrigerator. In a large bowl mix the pecans, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, salt, margarine, and bourbon until well incorporated. Roll out the dough to approximately 14 inches. Press the dough into an 11-inch tart pan pressing the edges into the scallops with your thumb. Dock the dough with a fork and par-bake it for 10 minutes. Pour the filling into the crust and smooth it with a rubber spatula. Return the tart to the oven for 30 minutes. Allow tart to cool completely before serving. Serve with whipped cream. (Makes 1 tart that serves 6 to 8 people.)


Pie Dough

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup organic non-hydrogenated shortening
1/2 teaspoon iodized sea salt
ice water

Add the all-purpose and whole wheat flour, shortening, and salt to the bowl of a food processor and start it. Slowly add cold water a teaspoon at at time until a ball forms. Stop the motor and pull the dough ball out. Place it in a covered bowl in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to rest.


Easy Whipped Cream


1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a large bowl whisk cream vigorously until slightly stiff. Add sugar and vanilla and whisk to combine.  Set whipped cream aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

9 comments:

Louisa said...

Excellent :)

pecan Pie was a struggle for me, too. My sister is very allergic to corn syrup, and loves pecan pie. I ended up using maple syrup in place of corn syrup, which worked but was still too sweet for me. I'm going to have to try it this way-I love pecans!

laputain said...

this clearly isn't a vegan recipe, what with the eggs and all, but I see you use margarine rather than butter. Is this a conscious, 'will make it taste better/not fall apart' sort of decision, or do you just habitually use soy marg in cooking? It's not something I would ever have in the house (marg of any sort) although my mum did use cooking marg when I was growing up. These days marg has fallen from favour amongst foodies in Scotland, with butter being used *everywhere*...do you think it would work or should i seek out some soy?

The Chubby Vegetarian said...

That's just what we used and it turned out really great. I think using butter would be just fine. In fact, Would you be our tester on this? We'd love to know what you think.

Joann said...

Absolutely delish. I just ate and I'm hungry again just looking at it.

Aging Ophelia said...

Lovely pie! Here's a link to another version I've been making for years-- using walnuts instead, and maple syrup with a lightening, special touch of lemon:
http://vegetarianatlarge.blogspot.com/2011/08/tried-and-tweaked-thursday-for.html?zx=127fda9a33ea9261

Try it sometime, it's fab easy and delish.

Peace, Mari

tender b. said...

I like the idea of splashing some bourbon in their.

Chaya said...

I made this recipe last week from The Southern Vegetarian, although I did use my grandma's pie crust recipe instead of the tart crust. It was amazing. It didn't firm up in the center but I believe that's because I used the only pie pan I had--and it was a bit smaller than what the recipe wanted. I thought the was delicious. My husband liked it even more than traditional pecan pies--probably because the brown rice syrup gave it a slightly different taste.

Because your pecan tart filling was so excellent, I just hopped on your website to see if you have any more pie recipes. I think I'm going to make the sweet potato pie tonight!

I've had a great time introducing my Ukrainian-born Israeli husband to American southern food through your cookbook. The first recipe I made from your cookbook was the pork and beans made with mushrooms instead of pork (I don't recall the name of the recipe). It was brilliant. The mushrooms really gave it that porky texture. Anxiously awaiting your next cookbook.

Chaya

Chaya said...

By the way, I did use butter instead of margarine (just read the comment above) and I do not think it caused any problems. The reason mine did not firm up in the center was because I tried to squeeze all of the filling into a too-small pan (what can I say? I didn't want to waste any!) I got an appropriate-sized pan last night and will make it next time in that one.

Chaya

Unknown said...

I made these for a potluck this weekend. They are so cute and absolutely delicious!