Nanny's Pecan Pie

Louisiana pecan pie is chewy and gooey, full of pecans and sticky goodness, in a flakey short crust. Nanny's pecan pie recipe is the best of the best. Christmas is not Christmas without it!

We were there! After five hours of driving dark highways in the bitter cold, the whole family piled into the warmth of my grandmother’s yellow kitchen. As usual, everyone talking at once. Following shortly behind us, coming from the opposite direction on Interstate 10, my aunt’s family banged through the old screen door, arms laden with luggage and goodies.

Nanny had a stack of pecan pies, all baked in foil pie plates and wrapped in more foil, a tower of shiny as welcome as any star on the nearby Christmas tree. Pecan pie was one of her specialties and this year, she claimed, she had perfected the recipe. Baking pie after pie until the mixture was just right. We laughed when she said 7/8 cup of Karo, because how do you even measure that!

In southern Louisiana, your godparents are your nanan and parran, the Cajun French words for godmother and godfather. Aunt Karen was not my godmother but she was my older sister’s and since I was three years younger, I called her Nanny as well. That was just her name and it never occurred to me until I was much older that she wasn’t my godmother too.

On Christmas Day, 20 years ago, we lost Nanny to breast cancer, after a few years’ hard fight. She was only 49. She lives on through her children and grandchildren and in the cherished memories we have of the most generous and loving aunt, sister, mother, friend anyone has ever known. I eyeball that measuring cup each time I make this pie and channel her precision for 7/8 cup. Her recipe hasn’t failed me yet.

Nanny's Pecan Pie

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 large egg
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
7/8 cup or 207ml clear Karo corn syrup (Just do your best.)
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups or 180g chopped pecans
4 small pats of butter (about 1 teaspoon each)

1 unbaked pie shell (I use this recipe. Stop when the crust has been pricked with a fork, and come on back here to make the filling.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 300°F or 149°C.

Put your pecans in a large baking pan and pop them in the oven as it preheats. Set a timer for five minutes and shake the pan every time it rings. Take the pecans out when they smell all toasty and nutty. Depending on your oven, this could take 10 minutes or even 20. Depends on how fast your oven preheats and the toasting can really start. Remove the pecans from the oven and set aside to cool.

Beat the egg and sugar until yellow and creamy looking.

Add the Karo and the pinch of salt and whisk again.

After thoroughly mixed, add your cooled pecans.

Pour into unbaked pie shell. Put pats of butter on top.

Bake in your preheated oven for 50/60 minutes. (I suggest putting a piece of foil under the pan, for easy clean up, in case it boils over a little.)

Remove from the oven when the pie is almost set. It might still be just a little bit wobbly in the middle.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy!

Visit all the other Christmas Week Peeps for more Holiday Baking Goodness:

• Coconut Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Covered Spoons by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Chocolate Shortbread Bars by Juanita’s Cocina
• Buckeyes byMy Catholic Kitchen
• Chocolate Cherry Hazelnut Fudge by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies by Jen’s Favorite Cookies
• Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Chocolate Peppermint Donuts by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake by Liv Life
• Coconut Cream Tres Leches Cake by The Dutch Baker’s Daughter
• Cranberry Pistachio Eggnog Bark by See Aimee Cook
• Cranberry Yogurt Cookies by Mom’s Test Kitchen
• Cranberry-Orange Gin Fizz by The Messy Baker
• Flourless Peanut Butter Nutella S’Mores by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Frosted Sugar Cookies by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Gluten-free Cinnamon Star Cookies by Masala Herb
• Holiday Pinwheels by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• My Mother-in-law’s Fudge by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Nanny’s Pecan Pie by Food Lust People Love
• Peanut Butter n’ Jelly Thumbprints by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Peppermint Brownie Pops by Home Cooking Memories
• Peppermint Fudge by Like Mother Like Daughter
• Peppermint Mocha Brownie Cookies by Homemade in the Kitchen
• Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Pokey Fudge by Ninja Baking
• Vanilla Wafer Holiday Bark by Dizzy Busy and Hungry

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Pecan Pie Baklava with Dried Cranberries for #CookedinTranslation

Sticky, crunchy pecan pie baklava is made in the traditional manner but with the unusual ingredients of pecans, cranberries and pecan pie syrup for a delicious cross cultural treat.

A couple of years back, I had the good fortune to attend a class at the Asian Food Channel kitchen in Singapore.  I wrote all about it here.  One of the recipes we made was traditional Middle Eastern baklava with honey syrup and pistachios.  The chef demonstrated how to roll the first tube of filo pastry with nuts and then squish it off into the baking tray and then asked for a volunteer for the next one.  I held back a minute or two, in case someone else would step forward, but since no one did, I raised my hand. The chef looked much relieved and complimented me nicely on my baklava roll.

I was amazed at how easy baklava really is because it always looked so complicated on the plate, with all those layers! After that, my fellow students got into it and several took a turn. Sometimes you just have to start the ball rolling, you know. They turned out to be nice folks and we had a great time learning, cooking and eating together.

When my fellow Cooked in Translation members were discussing the theme for this month, we decided that we would each “translate” a different Thanksgiving favorite, rather than working on the same dish.  I remembered my baklava class and thought that pecan pie would translate quite well.  And while I was playing free and easy with pecan pie, I also decided to throw in some dried cranberries.  Just because I could.  If this were real pecan pie, no variations are allowed.  Whatsoever.  Because we use my aunt’s recipe and it is engraved in stone.

As you might remember from past months, Cooked in Translation is where we take a recipe from one culture or ethnicity and interpret it from another culture or ethnicity.  It makes me put my thinking cap on and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

Ingredients
For the baklava:
1 cup or 225g butter, melted
About 14 oz or 400g pecans, separated (1/4 cup chopped will be reserved for topping)
16oz or 500g package filo pastry (You will probably have a few sheets leftover if you buy the 500g package.)
1/2 cup or 60g dried cranberries, separated (two tablespoons reserved for topping after chopping)

For the pie filling:
1 egg
3/4 cup or 180ml light Karo
1/2 cup or 115g sugar

For the topping:
Reserved chopped pecans and cranberries

N.B.  You will also need a wooden dowel, which can be purchased at a craft or hardware store, or one long chopstick that is used for cooking, like this or this.  This also bakes best in a non-stick pan.  It will get lovely and sticky and you want to be able to remove it easily.


Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Chop your nuts finely in a food processor.  Take out 1/4 cup and set aside for topping later.  Chop your dried cranberries in the food processor.  Reserve about two tablespoons for topping.

Mix the remaining pecans and cranberries together in one bowl.

Using a pastry brush, brush the top layer of filo pastry with melted butter.  Sprinkle with a thin layer of the chopped pecans and cranberries.

Roll up from the long side with your dowel or chopstick and roll it all the way off the stack of filo pastry.

Brush the next layer of filo with butter.  Place your roll back on the near edge of the filo and roll up once more.

Using a hand on either side, compress the stuffed filo roll.

This was a hard step to photograph with only one hand.  You will use both hands to push the filled roll to the middle. 

 Now push it down to one end of the dowel and slide it into the pan.

Make as many rolls as will fill your pan.  My pan is 21cm x 21cm or about 8 1/4 in x 8 1/4 in and, as you will see, it took six rolls.  Which also just finished my pecans, so that worked out. :)

No problem if you didn't compress the roll enough. 

Just push it in and make it fit. 

Brush the tops liberally with butter.

Using a sharp knife, cut the rolls into short lengths - about an inch and a half or four centimeters. Be careful not to mar your non-stick pan though!

Bake for about 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven.

Meanwhile, put your egg, Karo and sugar into a medium bowl.  Whisk until the sugar is dissolved.  This should turn a pale yellow color but, as you can see, my lovely egg yolk was vivid orange so mine just turned yellow.

When the timer rings or your baklava is slightly golden and crunchy, remove it from the oven but leave the oven on. (Sorry about this but the baklava needs to go back in.)  Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

When cooling time is up, give your sugar/Karo mixture another good whisk.  You just thought the sugar was dissolved.  But a little always seems to settle out again.

Pour the mixture over your baklava.  Give it a few minutes to soak in, pushing the pieces apart gently with a spatula, if necessary.

Pop the pan back into the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until it is a nice medium gold and completely sticky around the edges.

You can see that it was still bubbling a little but that subsided when it cooled. 

Mix your reserved pecans and cranberries together and sprinkle them all over the top of the rolls.

Allow to cool just a few minutes before removing from the pan to serve.  The sticky, chewy edges are the best part but it is all delicious.

Enjoy!

And just a quick picture of something I am thankful for today.  The pooch has arrived in good form!