On an early summer evening a year ago, I’m sitting across the table from my wife at Mama Dip’s in Chapel Hill, a North Carolina institution known for the best in home-style southern cooking. I’ve taken my first bite of the best thing that’s ever graced this earth—pecan pie. No food represents the South to me like this magnificent pie. At that moment, I made a life decision.
I ‘ve been on a mission to find the best pecan pie recipe ever to grace this good earth. Of course, this is an academic pursuit all in the name of research. To begin, I collected six different recipes that run the full disparity of pecan pie types. They range from my Mama’s recipe that uses dark brown sugar and dark Karyo syrup to the illustrious Mama Dip’s recipe from her famous Chapel Hill restaurant. In the mix is a state fair winner from the purported state of pie’s origin. A version below of the pie that has bourbon, just a tablespoon or so, that leaves plenty left for other activities. I also included a couple of traditional recipes that use ingredients, corn meal or Lyell’s Golden Syrup, no longer used in most pecan pie recipes today. Those six recipes are below with my notes about their differences.
In the fall of 2013, I set out one weekend to make all six…that’s right all six pies for the ultimate Pecan Pie Tasting Showdown. The pie crust recipe was kept the same among all the pies–a simple butter recipe but without shortening. I spent a Friday night making all the crust and all day Saturday making the pies and drinking the leftover bourbon. I invited a crack team of culinary judges over. Basically, friends who had a free Sunday and wanted to eat their weight in blissful pecan pie.
After making all of the pies above for the infamous pie tasting event of the fall of 2013, a consensus was reached that Craig’s Mom’s recipe had the best flavor but the Texas State Fair Recipe had the best texture. What really makes my mom’s pie recipe special is the use of dark syrup and brown sugar. The rich molasses flavor helps to cut the sweetness giving the pie an overall complex and richer flavor. The best pecan pie recipe is essentially the award winning pecan pie recipe from the Texas State Fair with two simple but very important changes.
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