Boozy Chocolate Pecan Pie

I’m a librarian, and I admit that I do read quite a bit. I love food writing and read a lot of cookbooks like novels. I’ve recently begun to explore the world of e-books and I’ve been able to check out a lot of different books from the public library. I hate having to pay for things that I can get for free, and their selection of books is great and I can usually immediately start reading the book I want.

I’ve been a big fan of Cakespy for a while; she used to have a shop in Seattle that I visited a couple of times. This recipe is from her new book The Secret Lives of Baked Goods. I love the little stories connected with each recipe; I love learning the history of different recipes. I was able to get her book as an e-book, and while I did have to wait a week or so to get this title, it was a lot quicker than waiting for a print copy.

This recipe is for a variation of Derby Pie. Derby Pie is a trademarked recipe, so it can only really be made by the company that holds the trademark. This is a variation, with bourbon and pecans. The original recipe had pecans and walnuts, but I just wanted to use pecans. This pie is very decadent and fairly sticky too. You really need to serve this with ice cream, which helps balance the super saturated sweetness of the pie. I’m not sure how this compares to the original Derby Pie, but this pie is pretty fabulous.

Boozy Chocolate Pecan Pie

Pastry for a 9-inch pie

1-1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup dark corn syrup

½ cup sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup bourbon or rum

3 eggs

¼ cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Roll the pie dough thinly and place in a 9-inch pie pan, crimping the edges. Sprinkle the pecans and chocolate chips in the bottom of the pie crust.

In a large saucepan, combine the corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar and bourbon. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 2 minutes; stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt. Add about one quarter of the hot sugar mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Slowly add the remaining sugar mixture, whisking the entire time. If required, strain the mixture through a sieve if at all lumpy. Carefully pour the filling over the pecans and chocolate chips.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the center of the pie is set. Cool before serving. Serve at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream.

Recipe from The Secret Lives of Baked Goods by Jessie Oleson Moore