The yummiest chocolate pecan pie ever

Whenever I go to Avoca (an Irish restaurant that cooks delicious food) I cannot resist this pie. I've looked for the recipe for years with no success - it's not in the Avoca cooking books, and all my attempts at modifying similar recipes yielded disappointing results. Then, finally, some days ago, I found the recipe on the Internet and tried to reproduce it. Perfect! That was it! The problem is that this pie has done nothing but calling my name until I ate at least half of it in a few days! But it was worth it: taste it and you won't be disappointed!

Tools:

• a pie dish

Ingredients:

for the pastry

• 224g plain flour
• 127g butter 
• 28g caster sugar
• 2 free-range egg yolks
• a little cold water

for the filling

• 226g dark chocolate (53% cocoa contents, OR half dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids and half milk chocolate with 30% cocoa solids)
• 113g butter
• 113g caster sugar
• 113g brown sugar
• 113g plain flour
• 142g pecan nuts
• 2 free-range eggs
• 1 drop of vanilla extract

to decorate

• dark and white chocolate buttons

Method:

for the pastry

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Dice the butter and add it to the flour, then rub the two together until they look like fine breadcrumbs. Add the caster sugar, then the egg yolks and a little water if necessary, and mix well. Make up a ball, wrap it in cellophane and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Rub some butter onto the pie dish, then sprinkle it with flour and shake out the excess. When the pastry is ready, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. Helping yourself with a rollin pin, transfer it onto the pie dish. Don't worry if it breaks, you can easily fix it with your fingers! Push it onto the base and sides of the dish and pierce its surface with a fork.

for the filling

Pre-heat the oven to 160 ºC. Cut half the chocolate into chunks, then pour it onto a large bowl and add both types of sugar, the chopped pecans, vanilla essence and flour. Mix well.

Melt the butter, add it to the other half of the chocolate and mix well until it has melted. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones, add the eggs and mix well.

Pour the mixture onto the pastry, then bake for 35-40 minutes until the sides have settled but the centre still has a little wobble in it. Decorate it with chocolate buttons.

Delicious served warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Be careful, you won't be able to stop eating it!

Apple and Forest Fruit Pie

Are you looking for a dessert which is perfect for spring, delicious and beautiful? Well, you've found it! Although preparing the pastry requires a little time, this pie is extremely simple to make and packed with vitamins ... what more could you ask for?

If you wish to use frozen forest fruit (or any other berries, such as blackberries, blueberries or raspberries), remember to leave them out of the freezer to thaw the night before you make the pie.

Ingredients:

for the pastry

• 330g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 175g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten
• whipped cream or custard, to serve

for the filling

• 750g cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
• 750g forest fruit (or berries of your choice)
• 100g caster sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tbsp plain flour

Requirements:

• a 23cm tart tin, about 2.5cm deep, with a removable base

Method:

To make the pastry, sieve flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter cut into chunks and, with your fingertips, rub it against the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 4-6 tablespoons of water, one at a time, until you can shape the dough into a ball. You might not need all the water. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

To make the filling, toss the apples and berries in a large bowl together with the sugar, lemon juice and flour.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C (175 °C for fan ovens), gas 4.

Rub some butter onto the tin, then pour in some flour and get rid of the excess. This will help make it non-stick.

Sprinkle some flour on a clean, hard surface, then roll out two-thirds of the pastry to a 29cm circle. Gently lift it with a rolling pin and transfer it to the tart tin. Press the pastry into the base and sides of the tin, then trim it level to the edges of the tin. Knead the scraps into the remaining dough. Spoon the apples and berries into the pastry case.

Roll out the remaining pastry and, with a knife, cut it into strips. Brush the edges of the pastry case with some beaten egg, then arrange the strips horizontally and vertically on top of the fruit to create a lattice pattern, pressing their ends onto the pastry rim. Trim any excess pastry.

Brush with some more beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the pie in the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour, watching it now and then to make sure not to overcook it (if it is acquiring too much colour, lower the temperature by 5 °C). The pastry must be golden; the juices bubbling.

Let it cool down outside the oven and serve it warm with whipped cream or custard.

Buon appetito!