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Active Time
45 min
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Total Time
5 hr
Remember icebox pies? And how the flavor of butterscotch always seems to melt extra slowly on your tongue? The lighter-than-air quality of the creamy filling, along with the crunch of the pecan topping, make every bite of this cooling pie a real treat.
Ingredients
Makes 8 to 10 servings
For pastry dough
For filling
For topping
Special Equipment
Make dough:
Step 1
Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
Step 2
Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.
Step 3
Turn out mixture onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together (with pastry scraper, if using) and press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk. If dough is sticky, dust lightly with additional flour. Chill dough, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Step 4
Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate and trim, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under slightly. Crimp edge decoratively. Chill shell until firm, about 30 minutes.
Step 5
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
Step 6
Lightly prick shell all over with a fork. Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is pale golden along rim and set underneath weights, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom and side are golden, about 15 minutes more. Cool completely in pie plate on a rack, about 20 minutes.
Make butterscotch filling:
Step 7
Bring corn syrup, 3/4 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a 11/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil mixture, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally, until it melts into a deep golden caramel, 7 to 9 minutes.
Step 8
Remove saucepan from heat and add butter, vinegar, and a pinch of salt, swirling pan until butter is melted. Add 1/3 cup cream and vanilla and simmer, stirring, 1 minute (sauce will be golden brown). Cool sauce to warm.
Step 9
While sauce is cooling, sprinkle gelatin over remaining 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and let stand 1 minute to soften, then heat over low heat until dissolved. Stir into butterscotch sauce and cool to room temperature.
Step 10
Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks, then add remaining tablespoon sugar and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff glossy peaks. Fold in butterscotch sauce gently but thoroughly.
Step 11
用清洁打剩下的奶油搅拌器,直到它just holds stiff peaks, then fold into butterscotch mixture gently but thoroughly. Gently pour chiffon into cooled pastry shell, letting it mound, and chill, uncovered, until set, at least 2 hours.
Make topping:
Step 12
Cook pecans in butter with salt in a small heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool nuts completely.
Step 13
Let pie stand at room temperature, about 30 minutes. Just before serving, sprinkle cooled nuts over top of pie.
· The egg whites in this recipe are not cooked, which may be of concern if salmonella is a problem in your area. · Chiffon pie, without nut topping, can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, loosely covered once set. Let pie stand at room temperature 30 minutes before sprinkling with nuts and serving.
Leave a Review
Reviews (7)
Back to TopMade this from the Gourmet cookbook--everyone loved it--then looked here to see the reviews. This is totally delicious and easily put together and stuck in the fridge until much later. Bring it out after dinner, toast the nuts, and dig into an ethereal dessert with hardly any last-minute prep!
Jessica_LaMae
South Boston, MA
12/30/2012
I made this for a weekend dinner with family and friends. The flavor was spectacular, not too sweet, and everyone loved it. The saltiness from the pecans and crust (I used my own basic pie crust recipe that calls for 1/2 t. salt) were a perfect compliment to the caramel cream filling.
ShawnaC63
1/9/2012
I tried to make this pie this morning and evidently the 2 tsp. of unflavored gelatin are important. I didn't have unflavored gelatin so I replaced with 4 tsp. of cornstarch. I didn't like the flavor of the sauce after I cooked it either. Too much like vinegar. But I refrigerated and then froze for an hour and it wouldn't set up. Got no thicker than peanut butter. So, I took it out of shell and added a bowl of whipped cream and then froze it. It tasted much better then too. Maybe I kinda burnt the sauce, not sure, but it didn't taste good. I would not make this pie again
darra1960
Robinson, Illinois
9/25/2009
I don't know what happened, but this was awful. Maybe I burned the butterscotch, but I followed this recipe to the letter. Be careful going for the golden color. What I thought was golden made me almost vomit and I can't get the acrid taste out of my mouth.
beubanks
the south
12/23/2007
In a world where some desserts are almost sickeningly sweet, we thought this was a nice change. I made this as part of a 50th birthday dinner for a friend because I thought it would be fun to have a recipe from the year of her birth. Before making it, I turned to the reviews section and was disappointed to find only two reviews. One reviewer mentioned replacing the traditional pie crust with a crumb crust. I used graham cracker crumbs, and it was wonderful! The filling is not too sweet, and I think the 3 tablespoons of sugar in the crust was a nice addition. Also, the crumb crust played nicely against the soft texture of the filling. On the cover of the magazine, the pecans looked large and broken instead of chopped. I prefer chopped, but I did chop them coarsely. My husband, who loves butterscotch, says this recipe deserves a rating of 5 forks!
Anonymous
Jasper, Texas
7/2/2006
i thought it was delightful..... and would make it again....
Anonymous
new york city
1/18/2006
不知道为什么这个配方是1956年最喜欢orite of the Gourmet editors (hmmm, maybe that says something about 1956-era cuisine). It was a nice, light finish to a big meal and the recipe was flawless, but nothing to write home about. We would substitute a ginger snap or graham cracker crust to give it more interest.
Anonymous
North Shore, Mass.
1/9/2006
