Globecooking recipe : Pecan pie (USA)

As I mentioned yesterday, Tate & Lyle sent me through a selection of their sugars and invited me to try out one of the recipes from their website. As soon as I started browsing, one recipe leapt out at me instantly : mini pecan pies. I've only eaten pecan pie once and it was in a rotisserie restaurant in Washington DC when we were on honeymoon, so I loved the idea of recreating that, even if I had no idea how it was made ! It turned out that I had everything I needed in the cupboards. The little pecan pies are deliciously gooey and buttery and I'll definitely be making them again, especially as they disappeared so fast that I barely got a look in !

Pecan pie

ingredients :

80g pecan nuts, coarsely chopped (keep a handful back to decorate)

30g unsalted butter

80ml golden syrup

1tbsp dark rum

110g Tate &amp Lyle Dark Soft Brown Sugar

1 packet of ready-made ready-rolled sweet shortcrust pastry

1 egg

30ml double cream

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180°.

Put the butter, golden syrup, rum and Tate & Lyle Dark Soft Brown Sugar in a saucepan. (I left out the rum and added a drizzle of vanilla extract instead.)

Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, until thick and creamy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool until just warm.

Use a fluted cookie cutter to cut out rounds of pastry and put them in a greased tin. Scatter the broken/chopped (I just broke them into pieces by hand) pecan pieces in the bottom of each pastry case.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and add to the cooled mixture, along with the cream and salt and stir.

Pour the mixture into each pie case and lay a whole (or half) pecan on top of each.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to cool in the tin before turning them out on a wire rack to cool completely. They are delicious cold but even better slightly warm from the oven.

*** Don't miss my country-by-country globecooking recipe index ! ***

 If you want to try some more American recipes, how about Hoppin' John & Collards (South Carolina), Parmesan Chicken Breast, Minnesotan Hotdish or Snickerdoodles ? 

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky because it used up a half bag of pecans that were lurking in the cupboard.