Recipe: Bourbon-Spiked Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie with Salted Caramel Sauce

For the past three or four years, my parents have had Thanksgiving at our house, with just my grandmothers, my brother, and me (long story short, it's easier this way, and we do a larger family gathering for Christmas). This year was my first Thanksgiving as a college grad, and because I'm living at home and only employed part time, I was more available to help with dinner preparations than I have been in the past (oh, and my entire family figured that, since I love to cook and I have culinary class experience, I could probably just do the whole meal myself—I'm not quite that good though, haha). We had all of our traditional dishes—stuffing (or rather, dressing, because we cook it outside of the turkey), this Grand Marnier-spiked cranberry relish my mother makes (I find this dish amusing, because she hates cranberries but gets compliments on this dish all the time), turkey, mashed potatoes (though not as many as the good ol' days, when my cousins, Katie and Jess, and I would wolf them down like we'd never get a chance to eat them again), and a brown sugar-and-pecan-topped sweet potato mash, plus a few other sides. My mother and I did a lot of preparation on that Wednesday before the holiday so we wouldn't be overwhelmed on the day of, and my grandmothers each took turns washing dishes and helping us put things away. While I had a hand in a number of dishes, I wanted to make something on my own, and, since we already had so many dinner dishes, I thought I'd go for dessert. We always have pumpkin pie (this year was no different) and the occasional fruit pie, and sometimes cookies or some sort of cake, but I got hooked on the idea of making a chocolate chip pecan pie. I found this highly rated recipe from Emeril Lagasse on Food Network's website, tweaked it a little to get it exactly how I wanted it, and it turned out beautifully. The pie was sweet and rich, but not overwhelming, and the salted caramel sauce and some freshly whipped cream were perfect on top. The pie is best served the day of or the next day, and it's delicious served warm, cold, or room temperature. I highly recommend making the crust from scratch, but you could use a pre-made crust if desired—just make sure you use a deep pie dish, otherwise you may have issues with the pie filling overflowing while the pie bakes.

Yields: 1, 9 inch pie; approx. 1 cup caramel sauce
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, plus approx. 10 minutes for the caramel sauce
Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients
For the pie filling

• 1 & 1/2 cups pecans (I used a mix of chopped and whole pecans)
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli brand; you may want to use a little less)
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell (my mother makes homemade crusts and I highly recommend making your own)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, but light or dark would work)
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Approx. 1/8 tsp. salt 
• 1 tbsp. bourbon (any brand will work)

For the salted caramel sauce

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 to 4 tbsp. 2% or whole milk (I used a little over 2 tbsp.)
• 1 tsp. bourbon
• Good quality salt, to taste (I highly recommend sea salt, or some sort of high quality coarse salt; just add a small pinch at a time, and taste the sauce as you go to make sure you don't over salt it)
• 1-3 tbsp. butter (salted or unsalted; if you use salted, don't add as much salt) 

(It's really important to taste this sauce at the end, when you're adding in the final ingredients. You want it to be sweet, with a buttery, salty background and just a hint of bourbon)


Directions
For the pie: Preheat the oven to 350* F. Spread the pecans and chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of the pie shell. In a mixer or just in a bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the pie filling until well blended, then pour the filling over the pecan and chocolate chip mixture in the pie shell (the pecans and chocolate chips will rise up into the filling so that the filling is "mixed"). If you want a pretty design on top of the pie, arrange whole pecans on top in the desired pattern. Bake the pie until the filling sets, about 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

For the caramel sauce: In a medium, heavy sauce pan/pot, combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a deep amber color (watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn). Slowly add the cream, whisking to combine, and remove from the heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk, adding more (I didn't add any more to mine) until the desired consistency is reached. Stir in the bourbon and butter until the butter has melted into the mixture. Sprinkle in salt, to taste. Let cool before serving (the sauce will thicken as it cools). Gently reheat before serving atop the pie.

 
This pie is perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas (I feel like a lot of people make plain ol' pecan pies for the holidays, so this fits right in), but it could easily be served any other time of the year. Many pecan pies call for ungodly amounts of sugars and syrups that make them cloyingly sweet, but I think this pie has just the right amount of sweetness. Semi sweet chocolate chips add a richness and the warm caramel sauce adds a buttery, salty flavor to the pie that perfectly blends with the pie's sweet filling. This dish was a huge success with my family (even my brother, who rarely eats sweets), and I'll definitely be making it for Christmas.

Recipe: "Almond Joy" Pie

My mom just celebrated her birthday on Thursday and I really wanted to surprise her with some sort of birthday dessert. I came across a recipe online for "Almond Joy" pie a little while ago and I'd saved it on my "Recipes to Try" pinboard on Pinterest, thinking my parents would enjoy it someday—both are big fans of coconut, and they both enjoy Mounds and Almond Joy candy bars. We have two birthday dessert traditions in our house, Buster Bar ice cream cake (Oreo cookie crust topped with vanilla ice cream, homemade fudgy chocolate topping, and peanuts) and Double Fudge Fancy Fill (a chocolate cake with a layer of sweetened cream cheese in the middle, topped with homemade chocolate icing), but my mom always makes those, so I thought I'd try something new, and birthday pie sounded like a good idea. The pie is essentially a coconut cream pie, but a chocolate cookie crust, whipped cream topping, thick drizzles of hot fudge, and sliced almonds transform it into an "Almond Joy" pie that is to-die-for. I'm not a huge fan of coconut, but I absolutely loved this pie and, happily, so did my parents (and yes, my mom was quite surprised and loved that I made the effort to make something from scratch). The coconut cream filling is luscious and creamy, and the coconut flavor is soft and sweet (I was concerned it would be overpowering, but the flavor is just right). You'll end up with extra hot fudge, which is great, because it's perfect for ice cream sundaes, something sweet to dip fruit in, and other desserts. The recipe is easy to follow and it actually gets pulled together pretty quickly, so you'll be enjoying "Almond Joy" pie in no time!

Yields: 1, 9-inch pie
Prep. and cooking time: Approx. 15-20 minutes for the coconut cream filling, approx.  10-15 minutes for the hot fudge, Approx. 10-15 minutes (unless you use a premade crust, in which case, it's ready to go)
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Electric mixer or handheld/immersion blender

Ingredients & Directions
Chocolate crumb crust

• 1 & 1/2 cups Nabisco chocolate wafers, crushed
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 tbsp. butter, melted 

Preheat the oven to 375*F. In a medium bowl, combine the chocolate wafers, sugar, and melted butter and stir until well-mixed and until the mixture looks slightly wet and darker. Pour the mixture in a 9-inch pie pan and press it into the bottoms and sides, creating a crust. Bake until firm, for approx. 8-10 minutes. Cool completely, then add the cream pie filling.
I couldn't find Nabisco chocolate wafers or any other sort of hard, crunchy chocolate cookie, so I used a premade Keebler brand chocolate cookie crumb crust and it was very good.


Coconut cream pie filling

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup cream of coconut
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 tbsp. margarine or butter (I used salted butter) 
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup flaked/shredded, sweetened coconut

In a medium pot, combine the sugar, salt, and cornstarch, then stir in the milk and cream of coconut. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and bubbly, then continue cooking for approx. 2 minutes more. Temper the egg yolks by very slowly and gradually adding a little bit of the hot cream of coconut mixture to them, being sure to stir the egg yolk and cream of coconut mixture constantly (you need to temper it properly—if you do this too quickly or mix too much at a time, the eggs will scramble. Here's a helpful link to explain the process of tempering). Pour this mixture in the pot with the rest of the cream of coconut mixture and cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble, then continue to cook for a minute or too. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and butter, stirring until the butter is melted, then add the shredded coconut, stirring to combine. Pour the mixture over the chocolate crumb crust and and chill, covered or uncovered) for 3-6 hours before adding the whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and almond topping.


Hot fudge topping

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's brand cocoa powder)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• (1 small bag sliced almonds to sprinkle on at the very end, once the whipped cream and chocolate has been put on)

Stir together the cocoa powder, sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, salt, and butter in a small-to-medium pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Let the mixture boil for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let the mixture cool. Store in an airtight, microwave-safe container (it can be stored for up to 1 week in the fridge). To reheat (you need to do this in order to get it to pouring consistency for drizzling on the pie, or any other sweet treats), heat in short bursts (20 seconds at a time) in the microwave in the container it's in or in a small bowl, until it is warm and thinned-out enough to pour.


Whipped cream

• 4 tsp. cold water
• 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• Pure vanilla extract, to taste (I added about a tbsp., maybe a little more)

In a small heatproof dish (I used a little porcelain dish, but a small glass bowl could work too), combine the cold water and gelatin, and let it sit for about 2 minutes, until firm. Bring a small pot of water, filled up to about 2 inches, to a boil, then place the bowl of gelatin in the saucepan and stir it until it dissolves (it will be clear and not cloudy when done). Whip the whipping cream and sugar in a mixer or use a handheld/immersion blender to whip it. Slowly drizzle in the dissolved gelatin as you whip the cream, then add in the vanilla. The whipped cream is done when soft peaks form when you dip a spoon in then pull it up and out. (The reason you add gelatin to this mixture is to stabilize the mixture so it keeps its shape on the pie and stays that way for a few days).

To make the finished product
Spread the whipped cream topping over the chilled coconut cream pie, then drizzle with the hot fudge and sprinkle sliced almonds all over the top. 

This pie is rich, creamy, and has an absolutely perfect combination of flavors and textures. Creamy, sweet coconut filling; fluffy whipped cream; warm, rich chocolate sauce; and a crunchy chocolate crust and sliced almonds on top make a delicious, candy bar-inspired pie that would be great served any time of year, for a variety of events. I highly recommend drizzling extra chocolate topping on after you serve yourself a slice and don't worry if you have to buy a pre-made crust, because it'll work out just fine. Be sure to thoroughly chill the pie before serving, because chilling firms it up and makes it a little less messy when serving.