(Baked in a Tart Pan)
For people who find even my less sweet Pecan Pie too sweet, or who are hopeless chocolate lovers, this is the answer. Cocoa perfectly tempers the sweetness of the filling and adds a full chocolate flavor that goes so well with pecans. If correctly baked, the filling, when cut, is soft and slightly molten.
The surface of the pie is unusually appealing. Unlike the regular pecan pie where you can see clearly the shape of each nut, this filling cloaks the nuts with a dark milk-chocolaty glisten so you can just make out their shape.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Equipment
Step 1
Make the dough for theFlaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust. Roll, shape, and prebake it as follows:
Roll the Dough
Step 2
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll. Using a pastry cloth and sleeve rubbed with flour or two sheets of plastic wrap lightly sprinkled with flour, roll the dough 1/8 inch thick or less and large enough to cut a 12-inch circle, for a 9 1/2-inch tart pan, or 12 1/2 inches for a 10-inch tart pan.
Shape the Dough
Step 3
Use an expandable flan ring or a cardbard template and a sharp knife as a guide to cut the circle. Transfer the dough to the pan by rolling it around the rolling pin, by slipping your hands underneath it, palm sides down, and lifting it into the pan, or by folding it into quarters. Press the dough against the fluted sides of the pan. Turn down the edge about 1/4 inch so that it extends about 1/8 inch above the top of the pan. Using the back edge of a knife blade held on an angle, make decorative marks all around. Cover the pastry lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 24 hours.
Blind Bake the Dough
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 425°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. Set an oven rack at the lowest level.Line the dough with parchment, pleating it as necessary to fit the pan, or use a large cup-shaped coffee filter. Fill with rice or dried beans, making sure they are pushed up well against the sides of the liner. Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Lift out the parchment with the rice or beans and prick the bottom of the tart shell all over with the tines of a fork; if using a sticky or runny filling, prick only halfway through the dough. Return it to the oven for 7 to 10 minutes more or until pale golden brown (5 minutes for a partially prebaked crust). Check after 3 minutes and prick again if the upper layer of dough bubbles up.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 350°F. at least 15 minutes before baking.
Step 6
Arrange the pecans, top sides up, in the bottom of the baked crust.
Step 7
In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine the cocoa, egg yolks, syrup, brown sugar, butter, cream, and salt. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and without letting the mixture boil, until it is smooth and uniform in color and hot to the touch (115° to 120°F. on a candy thermometer), about 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a small bowl and stir in the vanilla.
Step 8
Slowly pour the filling over the nuts, coating the upper surface.
Step 9
Place a foil ring on top of the crust to prevent overbrowning and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the filling is puffed but still soft enough to shimmy like jelly when moved. Allow the pie to cool completely on a rack about 45 minutes before unmolding it from the pan. Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream, if desired.
Store
Step 10
Room temperature, up to 1 week.
Pointers for Success
Step 11
Be sure to check the pie toward the end of the baking time to prevent over-baking and drying the filling.
Understanding
Step 12
The filling is brought to a lower temperature than for the nonchocolate version because the acidity of the cocoa would cause coagulation of the egg yolks at a higher temperature. Straining is difficult because of the thickening quality of the cocoa and unnecessary in any case, as the cocoa masks any slight graininess from the eggs.
Leave a Review
Reviews (12)
Back to Top我没有时间使地壳,但男孩哦boy was this recipe wonderful. For the pecan lover who is also a chocolate fan I highly recommend this recipe. It wasn't too sweet it was definitely just the right amount of chocolate, and with some butter pecan ice cream absolutely over the top.
jgpbos
Boston, MA
7/13/2013
Very, very nice. While I may have slightly over-baked the tart (it was not glossy on top), the end result was fabulous. Not sweet, a bit chewy, and a show-stopper when brought to a dinner party. The crust is worth the effort and I will certainly make this tart again. We ate it over three days and it was really good from start to finish!
Anonymous
Princeton, NJ
11/30/2011
I love this recipe and come back to it every Autumn. It's even a good addition to the Thanksgiving feast selections. The end result is a rich and delish combination of two faves - - chocolate and pecans. What more can you ask for?
reeree411
New York
11/10/2008
I may have left this in the oven a few minutes too long, but it is a very rich, brownie-like concoction. Nevertheless, it was very well received. I used my own standard pie-crust rather than the cream-cheese crust called for without any problems.
Anonymous
Cambridge, MA
11/30/2006
Nope, the recipe for the crust is just too complicated for mediocore results. I didn't find this special in any way.
Anonymous
New Jersey
12/31/2003
Absolutely fantastic! This is a must for chocolate lovers! I added a handful of melted chocolate chips to the filling to make it even more chocolatey. This pie is very rich, so you can cut smaller pieces than the recipe says and serve more people. One problem--I made the amount of crust the recipe suggested for a 9 1/2 inch tart pan, but it wasn't enough crust to fill my pan! I'll make a bigger crust recipe next time.
Anonymous
Washington, DC
12/1/2003
This is great as long as you aren't expecting a pecan pie with a touch of chocolate (such as a Kentucky Derby Pie). This is rather a gooey-chocolated-tart-with-pecans. Which, mind you, ain't bad ... warm with ice-cream or whipped cream, it's a delight.
Anonymous
New York, NY
2/23/2003
This is a wonderful alternative to the usual clawingly sweet pecan pies that leave a metallic taste in the mouth. It smelled like tempting chocolate brownies when I took it out of the oven, but exploded with a roasted pecan taste and somewhat crunchy texture when bitten into. Golden syrup was new to me, but it turned out to add a delicate touch to the robust nutty and mildly sweet flavor. Perhaps because I usually make my own crust, I did not find the recipe for this flaky crust to be too difficult or time-consuming.
Holmes
12/17/2002
Made this for Thanksgiving dinner with the family. Even the picky kids loved it! But will not make the cream cheese pastry crust next time. Ridiculous amount of work for the same end result!
Anonymous
Boston, MA
12/2/2002
Mr. Weeber, perhaps you missed this explanation at the beginning of the recipe; "For people who find even my less sweet Pecan Pie too sweet, or who are hopeless chocolate lovers, this is the answer. Cocoa perfectly tempers the sweetness of the filling and adds a full chocolate flavor that goes so well with pecans." At any rate, if you don't like chocolate why are you making a chocolate pecan pie?
Anonymous
Houston
11/1/2002
No. What I mean is, I don't like chocolate and this crummy recipe just wasn't sweet enough. You'd think the author could have mentioned these rather important points in the description. But noooo. Let us waste our time and money making utter slop.
Ralph Weeber
Stokesville, PA
10/9/2002
This is quite delicious. i made it for a party and it was a great hit. Though when I make it again I will not both with the falky cream cheese pastry.....way way too much effort. I like making my own pastry but his was too time consuming and didn't tast all that different.
Anonymous
yellowknife, nwt
9/22/2002
