pecans Archives - The Midnight Baker

Pecan Pie

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 23:00:01 +0000

Pecan pie is a traditional fall favorite. This one has no corn syrup/

Pecan Pie–No Corn Syrup

In years past, I never gave corn syrup too much thought since it was something I’d use rarely. Mainly I used it in my candy making so it was definitely used sparingly.

Corn syrup, whether light or dark, always figured heavily in most pecan pie recipes. Frankly, I found those amounts offputting to say the least and that was before all the furor about high-fructose corn syrup. Therefore I was glad to find a recipe for pecan pie that didn’t rely on its use at all.

Pie Crust

Basically, I can cook and make most anything but where I will fail the majority of times is with pie crust. I’m not ashamed to say if I want a pie to come out perfectly that I use the pre-made refrigerated or frozen variety. Trust me, it avoids any disasters.

I discovered a great recipe for a pie crust that doesn’t fail from Mary Berry. The recipe and technique is in my caramel crumb peach pie. There’s also a video that shows you “how to.” The other secret is to use a European “pie plate,” which is only a removable-bottom quiche pan. Actually, you might want to take to using the quiche pan since even the first slice of the pie doesn’t get wrecked.

For this pie, I used the refrigerated crust. If you’re like me, play it safe. If you’re an expert at pie crust then make your own; any recipe will do.

Pecans

You’ll have to splurge and buy the whole pecan halves for this–if you want it to look super. I know they’re not cheap but who eats pecan pie on a regular basis. If you have any leftover, they store beautifully in your freezer. In fact, I freeze all nuts I use in baking. If you have a vacuum sealer, this is a good way to preserve them in the freezer even better.

The Recipe

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Pecan Pie

A classic fall pie made without corn syrup

Prep Time45

Cook Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: classic pecan pie, pecan pie no corn syrup, pies for thanksgiving

Servings: 12

Calories: 1098kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 9- inch unbaked crust
1 egg white

Filling:

1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbs full-flavored molasses
4 Tbs unsalted butter cubed
2 Tbs bourbon
1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs beaten
2 cups pecan halves lightly toasted, divided
1 Tbs each pure maple syrup and bourbon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C with rack in lowest position.
Line crust with parchment paper, fill with dried beans or pie weights, and bake until crust is set, about 25 minutes; remove beans and parchment and brush bottom and sides of crust with egg white. Bake crust until golden, 10 minutes; let cool completely.
For the filling, whisk together 1 cup maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook filling, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes; let cool 5 minutes.
Whisk in 4 Tbsp. butter, 2 Tbs bourbon, vanilla, and ¾ tsp salt. Slowly whisk in eggs until incorporated.
Roughly chop 1 cup pecans and add to filling; pour into prepared crust. Toss remaining 1 cup pecans with 1 Tbs maple syrup and 1 Tbs bourbon, then arrange over top of pie. Transfer pie to oven and decrease temperature to 325F/160C
Bake pie until filling is set and center is slightly jiggly, 60–65 minutes. Transfer pie to a rack and let cool completely, 4–5 hours. Serve pie with ice cream.

Nutrition

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Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:00:58 +0000

Whether you eat this for breakfast or dessert, this sour cream coffee cake is sure to please!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Stays Moist

Unlike many “quick-bread” types of coffee cakes, this one stays moist the next day. The sour cream in the batter is responsible for the moistness.

Sour cream also gives a little zing to the taste. This offsets the sweetness of the streusel topping and filling and it’s a nice combination of flavors. This cake is all about balance!

Heavy-Duty Stand Mixer Required

A hand mixer is out for mixing this cake’s batter. A hand mixer just doesn’t have a powerful enough motor to handle the job. This batter is thick and dense.

So haul out your Kitchen Aid, Cuisinart Pro or Kenwood. These machines can stand up to the density of this cake’s batter easily. As I mentioned before, the batter is quite dense so you’ll need a good mixer. I know those machines won’t have any problems with it. Personally, I have the Kitchen Aid, but my sister has a Kenwood and that machine is even better, however, they are rather costly.

Ahhh…Streusel

Now we get to the good part!

This cake hasn’t got just one ripple of sweet cinnamon streusel; it has two! Then it’s crowned with the remaining streusel for the topping.

The topping gets crispy and crunchy while the cake bakes. What a delightful sensation it is to bite into this and get that burst of flavor and a nice crunch to boot. I love this cake!

I chose to use pecans for the nuts. Pecans (to me) have a much fuller and sweeter flavor than walnuts. Walnut skins can be a bit bitter to my taste, and while I like them, I much prefer pecans, especially with this cake.

Pecans also add a warm depth of flavor to the streusel. Of course you can use walnuts, or any other nut you like or have on hand. However, it’s my personal opinion that this sour cream coffee cake is far superior with pecans.

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The Recipe

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Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Whether you eat this for breakfast or dessert, this sour cream coffee cake is sure to please!

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake recipe, sour cream coffee cake

Servings: 12

Calories: 574kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened
2 3/4 cups sugar divided
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream 16 ounces
2 tbs ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 2 cups sugar until light fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add alternately with sour cream, beating just enough after each addition to keep batter smooth.
Spoon a third of batter into the prepared pan. Combine cinnamon, nuts and remaining sugar; sprinkle a third over batter in pan. Repeat layers two more times. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition

*Adapted from Taste of Home
**Post may contain affiliate links

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Orange Pecan Streusel Coffee Cakes

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Orange Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

Just a few additions to a simple yellow cake mix produces this outstanding streusel coffee cake.

I found this recipe a few years ago on a top-brand cake mix site, but it was for one of their flavored mixes that I happened to have.

Delicious orange undertones make this a great cake

The cake came out OK, but I wasn’t really wild about the flavor. The orange cake mix had a weird and artificial orange flavor which killed the deal for me. But I thought the cake has some possibilities if made with a plainer yellow cake mix and a few naturally flavored ingredients. So I do what I usually do under the circumstances–channel my friend Lori’s mom, Janet Krouslis–the ORIGINAL “Cake Doctor.” Mrs Krouslis was doctoring cake mixes long before it became so popular.

First, I didn’t use any cake mix for the streusel crumbs–I made my own with flour and real butter. Plus I added some fresh orange zest and slightly toasted pecans. You don’t have to toast the pecans–it’s fine made with ones right out of the bag.

Even the icing is delicious and orangy

I also used a more neutrally flavored cake mix–yellow. In this particular cake, I used French vanilla flavored pudding as I was out of the regular, and I substituted 1/2 the sour cream with low-fat Greek yogurt (because…you guessed it–I ran out of sour cream). Turned out FINE. You can substitute 1 for 1 Greek yogurt for sour cream in any recipe.

Because of it’s orange undertones, this makes a great breakfast cake. Make it and watch it disappear!

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Orange Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

Just a few additions to a simple yellow cake mix produces this outstanding streusel coffee cake. This recipe makes 2 coffee cakes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: coffee cake, orange pecan coffee cake, streusel topping

Servings: 24 people

Calories: 232kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

For the Cake:

18 oz yellow cake mix
4 eggs
3 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup oil

For the Streusel:

1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans
2 tsp orange zest

For the Glaze:

1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2-3 tbsp heavy cream or half-and-half
1/2 tsp orange extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 small (8 x 4 x 3-inch) loaf pans.
Combine all streusel ingredients in a food processor. Process until nuts are coarsely chopped. Set aside.
Combine cake mix, instant pudding, sour cream and oil in a large bowl. Beat with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat for 2 minutes.
Divide 1/2 of the batter between the 2 pans, spreading out evenly. Sprinkle 1/4 of the streusel filling on top of batter in each pan. Divide the remaining batter on top of the 2 pans. Top each with remaining streusel.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove cakes from pan and cool completely on a rack.
Mix glaze ingredients, using only enough cream to make a thick but pourable mixture. Drizzle over cakes.
Makes 2 loaf cakes.

Nutrition

Orange Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

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