1 × batch Brisee butter crust
(page 71) or ½ batch Super flaky
buckwheat crust (page 76),
rolled into a 25 cm (10 in) pie
dish or a 23 cm (9 in) round ×
5 cm (2 in) deep tart tin and
blind baked to golden brown
Filling
180 g (6½ oz) whole pecans
280 g/ml (10 oz) pure maple syrup
160 g (5½ oz) demerara sugar
150 g (5½ oz) egg (approx. 3 eggs)
20 g (¾ oz) egg yolk (from approx.

1 egg, reserving the egg white
to seal the tart shell)
100 g (3½ oz) unsalted butter,
super soft
60 g/ml (2 oz) cream (35% milkfat)
20 g/ml (¾ oz) dark rum (or extra
maple syrup for booze-free)
15 g (½ oz) Dutch (unsweetened)
cocoa powder
5 g (⅛ oz/½ teaspoon) vanilla paste
4 g (⅛ oz/1 teaspoon) sea salt
flakes
To finish
200 g/ml (7 oz) thick cream
(45% milkfat)
10 g/ml (¼ oz) dark rum (optional)
3 g (¹⁄₁₀ oz/¼ teaspoon) vanilla
paste
teeny pinch of sea salt flakes
Chocolate rum maple pecan pie
In the eye-searingly schmexy first season of the TV show

True Blood, a tragedy befalls Sookie Stackhouse and, in her grief,

she consumes a slice of pecan pie that I will never forget seeing.

The maple custard was spoonably gooey under the pecan raft,
and I vowed to make the pecan pie I made look the same.

Like Sookie and her two paramours, I am torn between a classic
recipe or adding the darker flavours. Here, I choose dark.

Heat your oven to 130°C (265°F) and scatter the pecans onto a
shallow baking tray. Bake for 25–30 minutes until they’re just starting
to darken on the outside and are the palest brown inside – cut or snap
one open to assess. Set 20 g (¾ oz) aside for the end decoration and
use the rest for the filling. Keep the oven on 130°C (265°F) and set a
rack on a low shelf and remove the upper racks.

Set up a double boiler: heat 5 cm (2 in) deep water in a 20 cm (8 in)
saucepan to a low simmer and choose a heatproof bowl large enough
that the base won’t touch the water when resting on top of the
saucepan.

Weigh all the remaining ingredients, except the pecans, into the bowl
and whisk together thoroughly. The butter and cocoa will be lumpy
but all will melt and combine together as it heats.

Set the bowl over the double boiler and whisk occasionally until the
mix thickens and the chocolate and butter melt. This should take
around 10 minutes. The mix will read 55–60°C (131–140°F) on a
digital thermometer, and will look like a lustrous brown milkshake.

Take care it doesn’t overcook and get chunky/curdled at any stage.

Scrape the filling into a jug.

If the mix does start cooking firm at the edge, act fast. Take the bowl off
the double boiler and whisk vigorously to release the steam and regulate
the temperature. If the mix gets very overcooked, strain out the cooked egg
chunks and whisk the drained filling into a fresh whole egg. Continue!

continued …

Keeps Room temperature (without

cream) the first day then up to 4 days,
chilled.

Makes A pie to serve 6–10.

Takes If the crust has been blind

baked, this will take 90 minutes to
make and bake. Cool for a minimum
of 1 hour before cutting.