CHOCOLATE BROWNIE PECAN PIE
PG tested
The consistency of the filling is somewhere between chocolate pudding and a fudge brownie. The pie is good warm but is better when served at room temperature or chilled when the chocolate firms up. This is excellent with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
A 9-inch single-crust pie (homemade or storebought) ⅔ cup light corn syrup ⅔ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Generous pinch of salt 3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups coarsely chopped pecan halves
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fit a sheet of foil inside pastry and fill foil with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until edges of pastry look white. Remove foil with beans or pie weights. Continue to bake 7 to 10 minutes more, pressing pastry up sides with spoon if it starts to slip, until browned in spots. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
Gently heat corn syrup, brown sugar and butter together in medium saucepan until butter melts. Turn off heat; add chocolate and salt. Let stand 5 to 7 minutes, occasionally tilting and shaking the pan so the liquid runs over chocolate. Whisk mixture until smooth, then pour into medium bowl and let cool 10 minutes.
In another medium bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolk until frothy. Blend in vanilla. Add about half the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Blend in remaining chocolate mixture. Add the pecans and stir well. Pour filling into the cooled pie shell. Using a fork, gently rake the nuts to distribute them evenly.
Bake on center oven rack until the filling has puffed, is fairly firm and has cracked slightly, especially around edge, about 40 minutes. Rotate the pie 180 degrees halfway through baking, so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. When done, it may be slightly wobbly at the center. Don’t worry; the residual heat will continue to cook the pie.
Cool on wire rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Or let cool thoroughly, cover with loosely tented foil, and refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Makes 8 to 10 servings. — Adapted from “Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie” by Ken Haedrich (Harvard Common, September 2004)