pecan pie

we have been collecting pecans. not only this day, but many times since. this specific pecan tree is huge, it's on our neighbors property and he told us the other day, that he used to sell them. a few years back he used to collect 300 kg of pecans. that's a lot of pecans. now he just collects what he needs, and lets others, like us, his lucky neighbor, pick as many as we like. and it's amazing. every day there are pecans spread out all over the ground under the tree. hundreds of them. and we pick. this year they are kind of small, like the clementines we can pick these days in the garden. it's because of the dry spell this spring and summer.not enough water make the fruits small, but very sweet and oh-so-tasty. so unless you're a farmer and sell it by weight, it's really not that bad that they are small.

but one can only eat that many fresh pecans. so we started cooking. the other day i made pecan pie. and it was really, really good. so, if you can get your hands on some pecans, the fresher the better, you should give it a go.

pie crust (enough for a size25-30cm):
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
150 g butter
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 egg

• crumble the butter into the flour, then mix in sugar and vanilla sugar.
• collect the dough with the egg. add a bit of flour if too wet, or a bit of water if too dry. Remember, pie crust should be slightly wet.
• freeze it down for 30 minutes. it makes it easier to work with (and should also prevent the side of the crust to slide down during baking).i actually only used 2/3 of the crust and left the last part in the freezer. 
• place the dough in the pie dish. i usually press the pie dough to the bottom of the pie dish first. then make a long “snake" and press it onto the edges, as this gives a firmer and more even edge to the crust. preheat oven to 200° celcius. and head on over to the filling:

 pecan pie filling:
 2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup silan aka date honey (can be substituted with syrup, just make sure it’s not too sweet)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (can be left out)
11/2 cup of lightly chopped pecans.

• mix the slightly beaten eggs, date honey, sugar, flour, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
• add half the pecans to the mix and spread the other half over the pie crust. then pour the mix over pecans and pie crust.
• bake at 200° celcius for 40-45 minutes. the filling should be set, but not hard. you might want to add some aluminum foil over the pie crust edge, to make sure it won’t burn.
  

after it has been removed from oven it should be allowed to cool off for a while.i prefer it to still be slightly warm, but it tastes delicious after it has cooled down, and even straight out of the fridge.

it’s a pretty full. sweet too, but in the good nutty, cinnamon-spiced way. it lasted 3 days, so i think you could easily serve 6-8 people if you want to use it as a dessert. we had it just like that, but a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side would make it pretty close to perfect.



and if you need some salty stuff after the sweet, these salt-roasted pecans are just too good to be true. this is D's thing, but i watched as he cracked the nuts open, but left them inside. then placed them in the oven tray, added half a cup of water, lots of sea salt and left them at 180° celcius for 30 minutes (or until you think they are good for you). perfect snack, but totally addictive.

and last but not least: don't forget to join the vintage botanical print giveaway.