Happy Thanksgiving! We may not celebrate the holiday over here but that shouldn’t prevent us from indulging in their delicious traditional celebratory dishes. One of which includes this yummy recipe for pecan pie. Pecans are not only high in anti-oxidants but they are also high in protein and dietary fibre. So you won’t feel too guilty indulging in this creamy recipe for pecan pie. This all-American baked dish is delicious when served warm with vanilla ice cream. 

Serves 6-8

Cooking time: 40 mins

What you’ll Need:

Pastry

• 230 g spelt flour
• 70 g golden caster sugar
• 130 g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1 medium egg, separated
• milk

Filling

• 200 g pecan nuts
• juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 300 g golden syrup
• 3 medium eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 300 ml double cream
• pinch of sea salt
• icing sugar for dusting (optional)

What To Do:

• Place the flour, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor and give it a quick burst at high speed to reduce it to a crumb-like consistency. Add the egg yolk and then with the motor running trickle in just enough milk for the dough to cling together in lumps, a teaspoon or two should do it. Bring the pastry together into a ball using your hands, then pat into a flattened patty. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

• Preheat the oven to 180 C fan oven/200 C electric oven. Lightly dust a worksurface with spelt flour, knead the pastry until it is pliable and thinly roll out. Line the base and sides of a 23 cm tart tin 4-6 cm deep by slipping the base of the tin under the rolled out pastry and then into the tin, don’t worry if you end up partly pressing it into the tart tin. Trim the edges by running a rolling pin across the top, and reserve the trimmings. Line the case with foil and baking beans (any dried pulse will do), securing the sides to the tin, place on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, paint the case with the egg white and patch any cracks with the trimmings, and cook for another 10 minutes until the case is evenly golden. Again if any cracks have appeared patch these.

• Turn the oven down to 150 C fan oven/170 C electric oven. Thinly slice two thirds of the nuts. Whisk the lemon zest and juice into the syrup in a large bowl, and then the eggs  and egg yolks, and finally the cream. Fold in the sliced nuts and salt. Pour the mixture into the pre-cooked tart case and arrange the pecan halves flat-side down over the surface, discarding any broken ones. Bake for 60 minutes until lightly golden and puffy at the edges, if you move the tart around it should wobble without showing any signs of being liquid. Remove and leave the tart to cool for a couple of hours, then chill it for another couple of hours. Cover with cling film and remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving if keeping for longer than this.

Recipe from Annie Bell, www.greatbritishspeltrecipes.com 

If you are not in the mood to cook but would love to indulge in some spring baked treats click here