Monday, November 7, 2011

Caramelized Fig & Pecan Custard Pie


I recently discovered the awesomeness of caramelized figs- so easy, and so tasty. I know they're great by themselves, but found they're even better when plopped on a bed of custard, surrounded by candied pecans, and finished off with a buttery whole wheat crust. 

There are a lot of steps to this recipe, but they're all easy, it just takes a little time.


CARAMELIZED FIG AND PECAN CUSTARD PIE

PIE CRUST: Put 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup white flour + 1 tsp salt in a mixer, Blend together quickly and add 1 stick butter chopped into small pieces + 3-4 tbsps ice water, and run mixer on medium high speed until dough is formed. Shape dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Once dough is chilled, roll out and fit into a buttered pie plate. bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until edges are browned and crust is cooked all the way through. Let cool.

CARAMELIZED FIGS: Cut 8-10 figs in half vertically, coat liberally with sugar and cook face down in a frying pan for 3 minutes over high heat until sugar caramelizes. Flip over, cook for one more minute. Remove from the pan and let cool.

CANDIED PECANS: This is the easy (ie. lazy) way I have always made them- you need to move quickly and stir frequently though.  Stick a big gob of butter, 1/3 of a stick or so, 1/2 cup sugar, a pinch of sea salt and some cinnamon in a non-stick pan over medium high heat.  Stir them together and once they're all mixed up add 1 cup pecans into the pan. Now, stir, stir stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture starts to brown, and the sugar starts to caramelize. Turn off the heat immediately. Put on a plate they're not going to stick to and plop in the freezer for about 5 minutes until just cool- not frozen.

CUSTARD: You can make your own, but I have a big canister of Bird's english custard and that's what I made mine from. Just make sure to have 1 cup and to chill it once you've made or accquired it.

Once everything is cool, spread the custard on the pie and then top with the figs and pecans. yum.






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