Recipe #87 - Memphis Bell Pecan Pie

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I thought I'd give our traditional Thanksgiving dessert a little spin this year. This is a recipe that they use at Flight as one of their gourmet desserts. The pecans where all hand picked from the pecan trees in my parents' back yard and hand shelled by yours truly. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix all of the ingredients except the pecans and chocolate in a medium sized bowl. 

Place the pecans in a zip lock baggy (save a few back for decorating the top of the pie) and crush however you like. My mom uses a rolling pin. I used a hammer ;)

Place the chocolate and crushed pecans in the bottom of the pie crust. I recommend putting the chocolate down first, because I didn't and it tried to float to the top of the mixture after I poured it in. 

Pour mixture into the crust. 

Decorate the top with the left over whole pecans. Wrap the crust with aluminum foil to keep the crust from burning. Place the pie in the oven for 1 hour or until golden brown. Remove the aluminum foil about ten minutes before the pie is done. 

I didn't get a finished picture of this unfortunately. Just picture the one above, but perfectly golden and amazing :) Because that is how it turned out. Perfect. I served it, like they do at Flight, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

I've never been a fan of pecan pie until now. The sweetness of the chocolate took the edge off the bitterness that the pecans usually have naturally.

Rating: 10 (I'll def make this again next year.)

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves: 6-8 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 cup light corn syrup

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 ounce melted butter

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

8 ounces pecans

3 ounces chocolate

Recipe #50 - Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

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THE HALFWAY POINT!!!

This is my 50th recipe! Therefore marking the halfway point in my challenge. I realized, oddly enough, that I haven't made a single desert. Seriously?! 50 recipe in and not a single sweet dish. Who am I?! Well what better time to break the streak than the 50th recipe. A healthy(ish) sweet cake made from scratch. Just reading the ingredients - yum!

Position a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter pan; line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter parchment. Dust with flour, tap out excess. Arrange berries in a single layer in bottom of pan; sprinkle evenly with a 1/4 cup sugar.

Sift 2 1/3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup butter and remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl at medium-high speed, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in vanilla and oragne zest. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating just until incorporated.

Pour batter over berries in pan; smooth top.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Let cool in pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a thin, sharp knife around egde of pan to loosen. Remove pan sides. Invert cake onto rack and remove pan bottom; peel off parchment. Dust top generously with powdered sugar and let cool completely.

I'm not the biggest fan of overly sweet cakes and this was the perfect mixture between sweet and tart. I never thought of adding orange zest to a cake batter before. I've only ever made cakes from the premixed boxes from the grocery store. It was kinda neat pulling it all together from scratch as well as experimenting with new ingredients. I'm definitely glad I chose this one for my halfway point recipe :)

Rating: 9
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 8-10
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan and parchment
2 1/3 cups cake flour (sifted, then measured) plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) fresh blackberries, quartered
1/4 cup plus 1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Special equipement: Use a 9"-10" diameter springform pan.