For the longest time I was intimidated by pies.. Whenever I read a pie recipe I was overwhelmed by the warnings and instructions… keep everything super cold…add water by the tablespoon…careful not to over mix..careful don’t add too much water.. dont over handle it or you’ll get bricks instead of crust…
Time after time I’d get all the ingredients fo my favorite pie (it is a toss-up between apple and pecan) and then lose the courage at the last-minute and go buy one at Le Mirabel .
Finally I came across a recipe for Pate Brisee crust my friend Zahra used to make this mouth-watering apple pie. I decided to face my fears and give it a try..I was really worried till it came out of the oven.. all my fears vanished with the first bite
My first attempt was with an apple pie.. it turned out just perfect..so perfect in fact that my mum asked me for the recipe! (mind you my mum is an AMAZING cook, so when she asks for a recipe that says a lot). The next project had to be pecan pie..but pecans are really hard to come by here and when they are available it is at a very high price..so I decided to try out walnuts instead (I use walnuts in the place of pecans in all the other recipes so I thought why not).
The crust turned out buttery flavored, crisp and crumbly. The filling is a magical combination of slightly crunchy walnuts and creamy filling. No more trips to Le Mirabel for me 🙂
Walnut Pie
For the crust
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
For the filling
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 and 1/2 cups toasted chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
In the food processor, place the flour, baking powder ,salt, and sugar and process until combined.
Add the butter and pulse till the mixture looks like coarse meal.
Add the water slowly while the processor is running until the dough starts to come together in clumps (you don’t want it to form a ball if it does that means you added too much water)
Turn out the dough over cling film, gather it into a ball.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces, flatten each portion into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using. (After this stage you can freeze the dough if you want)
Roll the dough on a floured surface untill it is about an inch wider than your pie dish
Transfer the dough to the pie dish, remove excess, prick the bottom with a fork to prevent it from rising while baking
Sprinkle the bottom with walnuts
Beat the eggs with sugar and vanilla.
Add the corn syrup and mix till combined
Add the butter and flour and mix till combined then pour the mix over the walnuts
Heat your oven to 180 degrees C (375 F) and place the rack in the center of the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes (after half the time has passed lower the heat to 150).
How do I know when my pecan/walnut pie is done?
You know the pecan /walnut pie is done when you give it a shake, the edges are set but the center wiggles a little.
If it wiggles too much cook it for 10 more minutes.
Allow it to cool completely.
Chef in disguise 
