From Faith Middleton — How do you invent a recipe? This pie recipe, just in time for Thanksgiving, began because I was tired of traditional pecan pie, especially the um, no offense, gloppy sugary mess that usually holds the whole thing together.
I started dreaming about what the ideal pecan pie elements should be. Instead of a traditional crust, I’d substitute a Sea Salt shortbread made with brown butter..in place of the syrupy goop, I’d use pecans lightly candied in brown sugar…and in place of still more molasses glop, a cream filling…should chocolate enter the picture? Maybe…
As soon as I imagined the ingredient list, of course I went online to see who’d also done it, and to get a feel for baking instructions; I discovered that no one has done this pie. Please don’t mistake this for bragging; the gang and I are more surprised than anything else, considering the staggering scale of the digital universe.
Wait, did I just invent a new pie, I asked myself? (For starters, I’m not a baker.) The pie sounds good, I thought, but will it taste as good as I imagine? That’s when I realized that a potentially original idea needs the spark of first-rate collaboration, and it’s more fun that way, anyway, especially with our gang. Therefore, I can say with pride — our Food Schmooze® “team” created this recipe.
My crew of collaborators consisted of our Chris Prosperi, who adapted his CIA pastry professor dad Paul Prosperi’s classic shortbread recipe; our Alex Province, who weighed in and brought J. Paul Laurens Champagne to go with dessert; WNPR reporter Lori Mack; and Jane Stern of Roadfood fame — my sister in buttery shortbread love and the one who advised me to go for a rich double cream instead of regular, less stable whipped cream. Thank you all for making my dream come true. And, yes, after one forkful, we devoured the whole thing. Would I make it again? Thanks to the team’s well-considered tweaks, in a heartbeat.
Get the recipe: Brown-Butter Shortbread Pecan Pie with Double Cream
