The pecan pie story…

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I decided to try a new pie crust this year, using Steve’s Gluten Free Cake Flour and a pastry recipe from Patisserie GF. I made two batches and refrigerated them overnight thinking I’d get the pies in the oven pretty quickly the next morning.

Here’s what I learned: pastry is different from a pie crust. I realized pretty quickly that that was not going to work (my first ‘wrong’). I turned to my no-fail pie crust by Annalise G Roberts that I’ve written about before (click here). Here’s a link to the pie crust recipe but be aware that it is written for the Authentic Foods Classical Blend GF flour. I can’t say how it will work with other GF flours. It didn’t take long to make the two crusts, but it threw me off my stride.

Then I made the 1st pie filling. I used a recipe from United States of Pie by Adrienne Kane, an excellent resource. Her recipe is similar to many except that she recommends toasting the pecans before adding them to the mix.

I had everything measured out, got the first pie in the oven, and then realized that I had not added the dark Karo syrup (2nd ‘wrong). Words escaped my lips but I decided what the hey (hay?) and pulled the pie out of the oven. I added the Karo syrup and tried stirring it in. Not a good plan, so I dumped the filling into a bowl and stirred it up, returned it to the pan and put it in the oven.

At this point, I was beginning to have real doubts about my mental faculties. However, in my defense, Steve was bustling around the kitchen. He was being helpful but I realized later that I am used to concentrating more when baking. Not his fault, it’s on me that I was easily distracted.

I made the 2nd pie, put it in the bottom oven, set a timer for it and waited. It was when the buzzer went off for pie #1 that I realized that somewhere in there I had (3rd wrong) turned off the top oven!!!!! Geez, Louise. No wonder it looked like it wasn’t cooking. I turned up the heat because, why not?

Both pies got done at the same time, they look about the same, and they both tasted great. I was stunned.

Here’s what I learned:

  • If you have a no-fail crust recipe, use it.
  • Pecan pie is very forgiving.
  • 3 wrongs sometimes to make a right.
  • As Buzz Lightyear says: Never give up. Never give in!

18 thoughts on “The pecan pie story…”

  4. What a tale! I’m sure the effort was worth it in the end. I sure all enjoyed. They really look yummy. Love pecan pie. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  5. Becky…as a new bride 55 years ago I decided to make a lemon meringue pie…one of my favorites. I had never made one before but had an “easy” recipe from a new McCall’s magazine. Once the whole pie was in the oven, I looked at the recipe once more. Egads, I had not pre-baked the pie crust! Called my friend and we decided I should turn up the oven temperature to see if that would solve the problem cooking the crust. That went well till I could see that the meringue was beginning to looked sort of burnt. Another phone call to my friend. We decided that I should pull the pie from the oven, take the meringue off and pour out the lemon filling to try and bake the crust again. It was then that I realized that the filling had not cooked long enough to thicken (and coat a wooden spoon) so while the crust was getting a tan, I tried to cook the filling some more…it did thicken up somewhat but that was all it was going to do. So, I pre-assembled the pie with the filling…baked it, but it remained sort of runny. After the pie was out of the oven I laid the charred meringue on top and let the mess cool. More phone calls and lots of laughter!! My friends came over that evening to have some pie…filling was still kind of runny but all in all, the pie tasted pretty good. I have never made a lemon meringue pie since!!

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  6. I love quilters! We just make it work no matter the medium. 😉
    I am not a big pecan pie fan, but I sure want some now….making my go to brownie recipe here.

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  8. This sounds so familiar and I apologize because it gave me a pretty good laugh just when I needed it. I have done things like this and now realize that turning 70 I need to really focus on what I am doing. This is why God has arranged things so we don’t have babies at this age! Amazing though how well things can turn out with all the misfires. Just keep plugging along!

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  9. Cute story, Becky!
    I’ve given up on making my own pie crusts because mine turn out like concrete!
    Have used ready-made crusts which are OK. Most recently, I’ve turned to baking
    pumpkin pie-cake instead, which is a pumpkin pie filling topped with dry yellow cake
    mix then drizzled with butter and topped with chopped wlanuts or pecans. Delish!
    It’s also called Pumpkin Dump Cake, of all things.
    Try it!
    Frances

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  10. Lol! Reminds me of the first time I made a coconut cream pie. I put all of my carefully prepared filling in my beautifully raw crimped edge pie crust before realizing I was supposed to have pre-baked that crust prior to filling!!!
    Scraped it all out just like you did. Messy, but it worked. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

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  12. My neighbour’s brother n law brings a cheesecake for every holiday gathering. He remembered that the vanilla was omitted just as he was putting it in the oven. Add it he did and the rest is history. Happens all the time. Also, who doesn’t need more socks!

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