With my lovely friend Carly's recent house move came an invitation for dinner and a few wines. Carly decided on a delicious homemade gnocchi (yum!) and I offered to bring dessert. Having recently purchased my first loose-base pie tin, and given the chilly weather outside, what better dessert to provide as a house warming gift than a dark chocolate, pear and pecan pie?
Dark chocolate, pear and pecan pie (serves 8-10, or two hungry girls on a cold winter's night)
2 large pears, peeled
165g caster sugar
150mL water
rind of 1 lemon
50g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
50g butter, diced
3/4cup golden syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1tsp vanilla extract
150g pecan nuts, chopped
RICH, SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY
175g plain flour
115g butter, diced or grated
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp chilled water
1. For pastry, sift flour into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter (see lessons). Stir in the sugar. Mix the egg yolk with the chilled water, add to the dough and mix with a butter knife until just mixed through. Knead on a floured surface for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 200C. Roll out the pastry and use to line 23cm fluted flan tin. Chill for 20 minutes, then line with foil or baking paper and baking beans or pie chains. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove beans and bake for 5 more minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Halve and core pears. Place 50g caster sugar in a pan with water and lemon rind. Bring to the boil. Add pears. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set pears aside to cool and discard the liquid. Cut pears lengthways. Arrange in your pastry case.
4. Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. In a separate pan, heat the remaining sugar and golden syrup until most of the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Whisk the eggs into the cooled chocolate, then whisk in the syrup mixture. Stir in the vanilla and pecans. Pour mixture over pears.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until set. Cool before serving.
Now, I suppose it isn't really necessary to make your own pastry, but it really isn't that hard and it is so rewarding. If you're like me and have poor circulation/constantly cold hands - great!! This means you also have what I like to call "pastry hands" and as such, you can work all your pastry with your hands without worrying that you will over-develop the gluten in the flour. If your hands are warm, best to save most of the work for the food processor (pulse flour and butter in step 1 to form crumbs, add egg and water and pulse again until the dough comes together). I also don't own a large food processor, so really didn't have that option anyway. If you are short on time or really just can't be bothered, frozen pastry is an option - just make sure it's good quality (as a general rule, you get what you pay for).
Some lessons in pastry making:
- Rub it right - To rub in the butter, make sure your butter is diced as small as possible, then use your fingertips to gently push the butter into the flour. The butter should look like fine breadcrumbs at the end of this process.
- Keep it cool - Work in a cool and well-ventilated area. Also make sure your bench space is cool as this will prevent sticking and overworking of the dough.
- You don't need to knead for long - a few seconds kneading is plenty and will prevent you overworking the dough, making it tough.
- Flour, flour, flour - Keep your bench space and rolling pin floured to prevent sticking.
- Rollin' on - Roll out your pastry in one direction - away from you - then turn 45 degrees and roll again. This will ensure you keep a rounded shape to your dough.
- Don't stretch!! - This is one I know a lot about! If you stretch your pastry at any time, during the rolling or lining process, it will cause it to shrink during cooking.
- Line it up - The easiest way to line your tin is to roll the dough over the rolling pin then transfer it loosely into the tin. Gently ease it into the tin without stretching. Then all you need to do it run the rolling pin over the tin to cut the overlapping edges and Voila! One lined tin! (You'll notice I didn't follow my own advice here. Lesson learned).
- Prick! - Make sure you prick your base with a fork to stop it rising after the blind bake.
So, the verdict? It went down a treat! I did have a few spills over the edge due to pastry shrinkage but that definitely didn't affect the sweet, chocolatey-caramel pecans, the soft pear and the yummy, buttery pastry. A great twist on the traditional pecan pie and the perfect winter dessert served with a lick of double cream.
Enjoy!
Dark chocolate, pear and pecan pie (serves 8-10, or two hungry girls on a cold winter's night)
2 large pears, peeled
165g caster sugar
150mL water
rind of 1 lemon
50g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
50g butter, diced
3/4cup golden syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1tsp vanilla extract
150g pecan nuts, chopped
RICH, SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY
175g plain flour
115g butter, diced or grated
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp chilled water
1. For pastry, sift flour into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter (see lessons). Stir in the sugar. Mix the egg yolk with the chilled water, add to the dough and mix with a butter knife until just mixed through. Knead on a floured surface for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 30 minutes.
 |
| Ready to rub |
2. Preheat oven to 200C. Roll out the pastry and use to line 23cm fluted flan tin. Chill for 20 minutes, then line with foil or baking paper and baking beans or pie chains. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove beans and bake for 5 more minutes. Set aside to cool.
 |
| Baking blind. |
3. Halve and core pears. Place 50g caster sugar in a pan with water and lemon rind. Bring to the boil. Add pears. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set pears aside to cool and discard the liquid. Cut pears lengthways. Arrange in your pastry case.
4. Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. In a separate pan, heat the remaining sugar and golden syrup until most of the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Whisk the eggs into the cooled chocolate, then whisk in the syrup mixture. Stir in the vanilla and pecans. Pour mixture over pears.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until set. Cool before serving.
 |
| Ready for baking. The mixture will bubble up as it cooks, but this flattens on cooling. |
Now, I suppose it isn't really necessary to make your own pastry, but it really isn't that hard and it is so rewarding. If you're like me and have poor circulation/constantly cold hands - great!! This means you also have what I like to call "pastry hands" and as such, you can work all your pastry with your hands without worrying that you will over-develop the gluten in the flour. If your hands are warm, best to save most of the work for the food processor (pulse flour and butter in step 1 to form crumbs, add egg and water and pulse again until the dough comes together). I also don't own a large food processor, so really didn't have that option anyway. If you are short on time or really just can't be bothered, frozen pastry is an option - just make sure it's good quality (as a general rule, you get what you pay for).
Some lessons in pastry making:
- Rub it right - To rub in the butter, make sure your butter is diced as small as possible, then use your fingertips to gently push the butter into the flour. The butter should look like fine breadcrumbs at the end of this process.
- Keep it cool - Work in a cool and well-ventilated area. Also make sure your bench space is cool as this will prevent sticking and overworking of the dough.
- You don't need to knead for long - a few seconds kneading is plenty and will prevent you overworking the dough, making it tough.
- Flour, flour, flour - Keep your bench space and rolling pin floured to prevent sticking.
- Rollin' on - Roll out your pastry in one direction - away from you - then turn 45 degrees and roll again. This will ensure you keep a rounded shape to your dough.
- Don't stretch!! - This is one I know a lot about! If you stretch your pastry at any time, during the rolling or lining process, it will cause it to shrink during cooking.
- Line it up - The easiest way to line your tin is to roll the dough over the rolling pin then transfer it loosely into the tin. Gently ease it into the tin without stretching. Then all you need to do it run the rolling pin over the tin to cut the overlapping edges and Voila! One lined tin! (You'll notice I didn't follow my own advice here. Lesson learned).
 |
| This is pre 'stretching-dough-to-fit-case' action... Don't stretch!!!! |
 |
| The finished product |
Enjoy!
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