Our friends visiting from France just had their first taste of American Pecan Pie. Beatrice loved it so much she returned back home with bags of pecans. I promised we’d make pecan pie for our upcoming sail. This is a variation from Garden & Gun, the Soul of the South, complete with bourbon and a lard-based crust. Totally authentic; totally Southern.

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Piecrust
This is supposed to make 2 9-inch pie crusts but I use about 2/3 of this for just one pie crust.

1 2/3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
2/3 cup lard
3/4 tsp. white vinegar
1 egg
Water

Place flour and salt in bowl, and cut in lard until mixture resembles small peas. Combine vinegar and egg, and add enough water to make about 1/3 cup liquid. Slowly add liquid to the flour mixture. Knead a bit, but don’t overwork. You can either roll out dough immediately or chill first. It rolls out better when chilled. Find a large area to roll out dough. A large cutting board works well. I’ve never known sailors to have actual rolling pins on board. A wine bottle works fine. My Skipper was feeling very piratey today and used a Kraken bottle. (which I wouldn’t advise because it has handles. Silly pirate.) Use flour to keep from sticking. Roll out dough and place in a 9-inch pie pan. (you’ll notice I don’t have a picture of this part, because it wasn’t a pretty sight.)

Pie Filling

3/4  cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. bourbon
1 1/2 tbsp. melted butter
1 3/4 cups pecans

Preheat your galley stove to 350 degrees. Place an insulated cookie sheet on the rack.

Combine sugar, syrup, salt, flour, and eggs, mixing well. Stir in remaining ingredients 
and pour into unbaked pie shell.

 

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes (a toothpick inserted in center should come out relatively clean). If you bake this under way, be sure your stove is swinging free on its gimbal or it will spill out. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 to 3 hours to set.