Bloomington Thanksgiving Dinner 2011: Brown Butter and Rum Pecan Pie with Rum Whipped Cream

The last time I made this pecan pie was when we were living in Woodstock, NY. We had ten friends over for dinner and during dinner the snow started coming down. Right before dessert the power went out...so no making the rum whipped cream in the mixer. Instead we did it the old fashion way by passing the bowl around the table, everyone taking a turn at whipping the rum and cream for desert topping. It was a lovely evening.

Brown butter and rum add a great depth of flavor to this classic southern pie.

Brown Butter and Rum Pecan Pie with Rum Whipped Cream

• One store bought pie crust (I can't do any better than Pillsbury) or homemade pie crust
• 6 oz unsalted butter
• 1 cup Karo dark corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 tbs. rum (the original recipe called for dark rum, but light rum was what was in my pantry)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 c whipping cream
• 3 tbs. light or golden brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 and put the baking rack in the bottom third of the oven.

Roll out dough and put in a 9 inch diameter glass pie plate, crimping the edges.

Cook the butter in a sauce pan over medium high heat until brown, approximately 3 minutes. Add the corn syrup and stir. Then add the sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a heat proof bowl. Set the bowl in the fridge to cool to close to room temperature. This will take about 20 minutes or so.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, rum, vanilla extract and salt to combine. Pour in the cooled syrup mixture and whisk vigorously to combine. Make sure the syrup mixture is cool enough to not scramble the eggs. Then stir in the pecans and mix well. Pour this mixture into the pie crust and bake for approximately 45 minutes. The top of the pie filling will have risen almost and inch and set and the crust will be gorgeous golden brown. In my oven this took closer to 50 minutes for the center to set.

This can be made the day before. Keep at room temperature covered loosely with foil once it has completely cooled.

For the whipped cream, combine cream, 2 tbs rum and the light brown sugar and beat until peaks form. Feel free to pass the bowl around the table and have your guest help whip the cream into shape. It can burn calories and create memories.