Carol’s Perfect Pecan Pie: A FruitGuys Family Recipe

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. As a kid, I loved getting up early with my mom as she put the turkey in the oven. I sat with her in the kitchen in my pajamas as she prepared my favorite sides: mashed potatoes and sausage stuffing.

I was so excited as we waited for my aunt, uncle, and cousins from northern Virginia to arrive. My aunt Carol always brought the most exceptional pies. To this day, she makes all of her crusts by hand. She learned from the master: My grandmother, Gloria Mittelstaedt.

Pecan, apple, and pumpkin pies were Carol’s specialities. Pecan has always been a big favorite because of our family’s southern heritage: Both of my parents, and their parents, grew up in New Orleans. My mom even had a pecan tree in her backyard when she was a little girl. After she grew up and moved out, my grandfather sent her shelled pecans as a special treat.

The Great Pie Bonanza of ‘95

Thanksgiving 1995 was a record pie year. Carol and her husband Doug made 2 pecan pies, 1 pumpkin, 2 apple, 1 cherry, and 2 lemon meringue. I remember Doug whipping the meringue (egg whites with sugar) by hand in the kitchen — his forearm strength was impressive! In the end, there were 8 pies to share among 14 people. That’s .57 pies per person, which was a pretty good ratio for our family of pie lovers.

Aunt Carol’s Perfect Pecan Pie

Maybe you’d like to have your own pie bonanza one day. If so, here’s my aunt’s Pecan Pie recipe. Here is what she said about it:

“The recipe I’ve always used for pecan pie is from a cookbook put out by the Junior League of New Orleans that was published 1972. I have never added the optional semi-sweet chocolate and prefer to feature just the pecans and yummy filling. And who needs whipped cream when you can top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?”

Carol Koelemay’s Pecan Pie

Adapted from a recipe by The Junior League of New Orleans

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark Karo corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 8-inch pie crust, uncooked
• Whole pecans for decorating
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped (optional)
• 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 375 °F.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs and add Karo corn syrup, butter, chopped pecans, and vanilla. Mix well.
3. In an oven-safe pie plate or baking dish, lay out the pie crust.
4. Pour mixture into pie crust and decorate the top with whole pecans.
5. Bake for 30–35 minutes, cool, and serve.

Cook’s Note: Can be baked the day before. Serve hot or cold topped with whipped cream or brushed with a thin layer of melted semi-sweet chocolate.

Pie for Breakfast

On the morning after Thanksgiving, my family’s traditional breakfast is — you guessed it — pie. I warm mine up in the microwave for only 15 seconds (I hate it when it gets too melted) and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, which is just enough to make sure every bite of pie has a little bit of ice cream. It’s the Black Friday breakfast of champions!

I hope you’ll try my method — on Black Friday or any other day of the year.