Pecan Recipes | August, 2005

Apple Pecan Cake with Lemon Butter Frosting

4 cups apples; peeled; chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs; slightly beaten
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces
Lemon Butter Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together apples and sugar; let stand 5 minutes.
3. In another bowl, stir together eggs, oil and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Blend in egg mixture.
5. Fold in apples and pecans, mixing well. Pour batter into greased and floured 13-inch-by-9 baking pan.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool and frost with lemon butter frosting.
Lemon Butter Frosting
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons waterIn a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, lemon juice and enough water for spreading consistency; beat well.

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Apple Pecan Squares

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups brown sugar; firmly packed
½ cup unsalted butter; at room temperature
1 cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (about 2 large) tart apples; peeled and thinly sliced
Whipped Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease 9-inch-by-13 baking dish.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and butter and then mix until finely crumbled. Stir in pecans. Press 2 cups of mixture evenly into prepared dish.
3. In another bowl add cinnamon, soda and salt and blend well. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla. Gently stir in apples. Spoon evenly into dish.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes (cake begins to pull away from sides and tester comes out clean). Cool completely in pan.
5. Serve with whipped cream.

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Apple-Pecan Tart

1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsalted butter; cold
¼ cup Crisco
¼ teaspoon sea salt
5 tablespoons water; maybe a little less
1¾ cups granulated sugar
¾ cups water
5 tart apples; peeled and sliced
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs; beaten
¾ cups raisins
½ cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces

1. Process flour, cold butter, Crisco and salt in work bowl until the butter is in pea size pieces.
2. Add ice water and process with on-off turns only until dough begins to hold its shape.
3. Take out pat down into flat circle and refrigerate 30 minutes
4. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
5. Roll out on floured surface and put into 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Cover pastry with foil and fill with beans.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove beans and bake until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
7. Mix ¾ cups sugar and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Add sliced apples and cook, covered, stirring occasionally until tender.
8. Drain and cool.
9. In top of double boiler, mix 1 cup of sugar, spices, salt and butter.
10. Add beaten eggs quickly and beat with whisk until blended.
11. Add remaining ingredients and cook over hot water stirring until thickened. Cool.
12. Layer apples in pie shell and pour mixture over apples.
13. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 8

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Apricot-Pecan Strudel Cookies

½ cup sour cream
¼ cup unsalted butter; softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt
⅔ cups apricot jam
⅔ cups Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons golden raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, blend the sour cream and butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and salt and blend until the dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
3. Form the dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and chill overnight.
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let soften slightly, for about 10 minutes.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disk to a circle about 9- to 10-inches in diameter and less than ⅛ inch thick.
6. Spread ⅓ cup apricot jam over the surface of 1 disk, leaving a ¼ inch border around the edges. Sprinkle ⅓ cup of the pecans, 1 tablespoon of the raisins and 1 tablespoon of the golden raisins over the jam.
7. Roll up the dough jelly-roll fashion, pinching the ends together. Carefully lift the roll with your hands and transfer to the baking sheet. With a sharp knife, slice the roll halfway through into about 12 sections.
8. Repeat the procedure with the remaining dough and filling.
9. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
10. Cut the slices through; cool completely on the sheet.
11. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for several months.

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Banana Pecan Upside Down Cake

1 cup brown sugar; firmly packed
¼ cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
¼ cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces
4 large ripe bananas; peeled and cut diagonally; ¼ inch slices
1 cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter; at room temperature
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons milk
Sweetened whipped cream; optional1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. Combine sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan; stir over low heat until butter melts and mixture is well blended.
3. Pour into a 9-inch diameter cake pan with 2-inch high sides. Spread to coat bottom of pan.
4. Pour maple syrup over sugar mixture.
5. Sprinkle nuts evenly over.
6. Place banana slices in concentric circles on nuts, overlapping slightly and covering bottom. Set aside.
7. In a large mixing bowl stir flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; stir until mixture is well blended.
8. In another bowl beat sugar and butter until creamy.
9. Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.
10. Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk in three additions. Spoon batter over bananas.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for about 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
12. Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides. Cool cake on rack for 30 minutes.
13. Place a plate over pan; invert cake. Let stand 3 minutes, and then gently lift off the pan.
14. Serve warm with whipped cream.

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Brown Sugar Pecan Squares

1 cup brown sugar; firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, vanilla and egg. Stir until smooth and blended.
3. In another bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Add to sugar mixture; stir until blended. Spoon into greased and paper lined 8-inch square pan.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Cookies will be soft in center.
5. Cool in pan. Remove from pan, peel off paper and cut into 16 squares.

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Butter Pecan Crust

½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Blend together butter, flour and granulated sugar until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in pecans. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

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Chocolate Pecan and Caramel Pie

1 9-inch Chocolate Pecan Crust; baked
1 package Knox Unflavored Gelatin
¼ cup cold water
2 cups whipping cream
1 ?-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 extra eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (about 22) caramels
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. In small saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over cold water; let stand 1 minute.
2. Stir over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in one cup cream. Bring just to the boiling point; then immediately add to blender with chocolate. Process until chocolate is completely melted, about 1 minute. While processing, through feed cap, and ½ cup of the cream, eggs, and vanilla; process until blended. Pour into large bowl and chill until thickened, about 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine caramels, ¼ cup of the cream, and butter. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramels are completely melted and mixture is smooth. Pour onto chocolate-pecan crust to cover bottom; let stand at room temperature to cool, about 10 minutes. With wire whisk or spoon, beat gelatin mixture until smooth. Pour into prepared crust; chill until firm, about 3 hours. Garnish with remaining ¼ cup of cream, whipped, and if desired, pecans.

Chocolate Pecan Crust
1 8½-ounce package chocolate wafers
¾ cups Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces; finely chopped
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Crumble cookies to make about 2 cups crumbs.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine cookie crumbs with pecans and butter. Press into 9-inch pie pan and press up sides to form high rim.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cool.

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Chocolate Pecan Cookies

4 large eggs
1½ cups granulated sugar
16 ounces semisweet chocolate; melted and cooled
½ stick unsalted butter; softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon strong brewed espresso
½ cup cake flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
2½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup Pecan Valley Pecan Pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs and the sugar for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and pale, add melted chocolate, the butter, the vanilla, the espresso, the flour, the salt and the baking powder, and beat the mixture on the lowest setting until it is combined well.
3. Add the chocolate chips and the pecans and beat the dough until it is combined well.
4. On a sheet of parchment paper, form the dough into a log 4-inches in diameter, wrap it in wax paper, and chill it for 3 hours, or until it is firm.
5. Cut the log into 1-inch-thick rounds; arrange the rounds 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake them in batches in the middle of a preheated in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the tops are shiny and cracked slightly. The cookies will be very soft.
7. Transfer the baking sheets to racks and let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the sheets. The cookies will firm up as they cool.

Makes about 12 cookies

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Chocolate Pecan Torte

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
¾ cups unsalted butter
4 eggs; separated
¾ cups granulated sugar; divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup unsifted cake flour
⅔ cups Pecan Valley Pecan Meal
Pinch of cream of tartar
Chocolate Rum Glaze1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. In heavy saucepan on low heat, melt broken chocolate with butter, stirring constantly until smooth; set aside.
3. Beat egg yolks for 1 to 2 minutes, gradually adding ½ cup sugar and vanilla.
4. Beat in chocolate mixture.
5. Fold in flour and nuts.
6. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add remaining ¼ cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.
7. Blend a fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; fold in remaining egg whites. Pour into9-inch spring form pan lined with parchment paper.
8. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until sides start to separate from pan but center is still moist. Cool on rack. Remove torte from pan. Frost with Chocolate Rum Glaze.

Note: For shiny glaze, store cake at room temperature until serving time.

Chocolate Rum Glaze
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon dark rum1. In heavy saucepan on low heat, melt broken chocolate with butter, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in corn syrup and rum

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