This silky, crunchy chocolate pecan pie recipe comes from pastry chef Liana Sinclair, who created the recipe for Supperland in Charlotte, North Carolina—certainly one of our 10 Finest New Eating places of 2022. Sinclair typically finds conventional variations of the basic Southern vacation dessert a tad candy so retains her rendition in verify by lacing the savory and bitter notes of darkish chocolate all through the pie. First, she provides Dutch-style unsweetened cocoa powder to the flaky, buttery pie shell. Subsequent, she layers a handful of semisweet chocolate wafers into the unbaked pie crust earlier than tossing within the pecan halves and pouring a brown-sugar pie filling over the lot. Don’t be tempted to swap in darkish chocolate chips, which frequently include emulsifiers so they maintain their form; wafers, then again, will soften into deep, wealthy swimming pools of chocolate that envelop the nuts.
Sinclair gilds her baked pie with a Chantilly cream (which is only a fancy phrase for sweetened whipped cream), besides that hers is enriched with melted milk chocolate, mascarpone cheese, and a splash of bourbon. (Sure, this pie has a chocolate crust, chocolate filling, and chocolate whipped cream topping.) Be at liberty to swap out the spirit for hazelnut liqueur or spiced rum—or, for a booze-free model, use 2 tsp. vanilla extract. For those who’re quick on time, a scoop of store-bought vanilla ice cream is an effective various.
Whereas Supperland serves individually portioned pies just like the one within the picture, we’ve tailored the recipe for a 9″ pie pan. Set the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet to forestall effervescent drips from scorching on the underside of your oven. Bonus: This makes shifting the pie to and from the oven so a lot simpler.
Traditional pecan pie? You’ve bought some competitors.
On the hunt for vacation desserts? Try our all-time favourite Thanksgiving recipes.
