I've been gone an awfully long time. I'm a terrible writer, and I'm sorry.
You see, in the one-year-and-two-months that I've been away, I've gone to New York to work, had the place I worked at close down, and then worked my a** off to find a new job only to have my visa sponsors reject every single one and thus initiating my earlier-than-anticipated return to Malaysia. Having come back, my boyfriend (Yes... I seem to have acquired one of those) and I went to work at a new restaurant as part of the opening team only to find out how complicated things could get, hence, my current unemployed, desperate-for-a-proper-job-due-to-lack-of-money-but-not-wanting-to-work-for-anyone-else-status. Suffice to say, it's been one hell of a year.
So um... If anyone is actually reading this, I am and will be eternally grateful. You surprise me.
Anyhow, having come back from a rough but memorable time in the Big Apple as a quieter, older and slightly larger version of myself, all I have to say is...
New York is expensive. But the food is good. The city is beautiful. My time there was an experience I would never trade for anything else. Hey, I learned to quenelle ic creams and make fancy desserts. And I ate my weight in chocolate at work. What could be better ?
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| Everything is bigger in.. New York? |
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| Cirque du Soleil. Another tick on my bucket list. |
Coming home was like letting out a breath I held for a year - mostly because I have my kitchen and mixer and over at my disposal. And my room, dear god, how wonderful it was to have a living space larger than a matchbox.
I baked a lot of things - brownies being the first, obviously, and then I sandwiched them with mint ice cream, (homemade, I might add. See, I've learnt some new tricks at my stint in NYC), but the pictures will come later - but the one I'm posting today is going to be a chocolate pecan pie. Mainly because I made one before, aeons ago so I'm not even going to bother you with the terrible pictures... But my mom loved it. And I remember a friend telling me to eat pecan pie when I went to New York (which I neglected to do - I'm not too fond of nuts in anything other than what they already are, that is, a nut.) and also finding out that the boyfriend has a certain affinity for pecans. So I did the throwback thing, except I wanted to make it more blog worthy. Because, you know, this place has been gathering dust for a while now. Cough.
Google did not disappoint. I chanced across this beautiful looking pie from Baking A Moment and I knew it was going to be the one I would make. And guess what? My mom loved it, my friend loved it, the boyfriend (who's never actually had pecan pie) gave it a nod (which is a pretty high form of praise from mister I-don't-know-what-to-say) and moi, qui deteste pecan pie, couldn't stop cutting off tiny slivers for myself to taste. Yes...taste...
I made a few changes to the original recipe, I doubled the crust because it just didn't seem like enough to fit into my 9 inch pie pan and I added way more pecans. And chocolate. Duh.
Take my word for it, though, this pie is sublime.
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Adapted slightly from Baking A Moment.
For the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup honey
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
4 tablespoons unsweetened butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups pecan pieces
pecan halves, for garnish (use the pretty halves)
To make the crust:
1. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil and stir until the mixture looks like sand.
2. Toss in the butter and use your fingers to rub it in until the mixture looks even more like sand. It'll be crumbly and a little dry. Add the water, a teaspoon at a time, just until the dough gathers into a ball. Don't make the dough too wet ! Chill in the fridge for an hour.
3. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/3 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Fold it into thirds like a letter and roll it out into a rectangle again, about 1/3 inch thick. Repeat the folding and rolling twice more, wrap and chill for another 2 hours.
4. On a light floured surface , or even better, between two sheets of parchment (makes transferring it to the pan much easier), roll the dough into a circle about an inch bigger than your pie plate (I used a 9 inch one). Either roll the dough around the rolling pin or use the parchment paper to transfer the dough into the pie plate. Gently press in the dough, making sure to get it into the corners and sides of the plate. If it tears or breaks don't worry, just patch it up with a little excess dough.
To make the filling:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and the brown sugar, then add the honey, chocolate, butter, vanilla and salt, and whisk to combine. Stir in the pecan pieces and pour the filling into the lined pie plate. Place the pecan halves around the edge of the pie, as close or as far from each other as you like.
3. Bake the pie for 35 to 40 minutes. The edges should be set but the centre should still be a little jiggly. Don't worry, the chocolate will hold it in place and this will make a lovely goeey pie. Remove from the oven and let chill completely before slicing. If desired, heat up individual slices in the oven for five minutes or so until warm, then serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
