Needed: authentic dessert recipes from the Southern U.S.

[durangojo]

mezzaluna,
this recipe is dead easy. are you at high altitude? they react differently sometimes at altitude. the chocolate chips don't really melt when you bake the pie and that doesn't bother me..i like finding little chips of chocolate when eating the pie. if you would rather not have the little bits of chocolate, you could slightly soften the chips in the microwave before add it to the filling if you are use to making your own pie crusts, you can just do them..mine are probably similar, but i do them in the food processor for easy, easy. let me know how they turn out..this recipe makes two pies so you can just halve the recipe or to me its easier just to make them both and freeze one...good luck!...joey
filling:
1 cup each, packed light and dark brown sugar
1 /3 cups light corn syrup
1/2 cup(1 stick) meleted unsalted butter
1/4 cup bourbon
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
4 cups toasted coarsely chopped pecans ( i don't chop all the pecans, i keep some halves)
whisk eggs, whisk in both sugars, then next 5 ingredients. stir in pecans and handful of semisweet chocolate chipes and pour into prepped, unbaked crusts. bake approximately 55 minutes or til pies are puffed and center is set. cool, wrap in foil and store at room temp, or freeze.
pie crust: makes two
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tbl sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut in cubes
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
6 tbl ice water (more if needed)
blend both flours and salt in food processor. add butter and pulse til a coarse meal. add lemon juice then 6 tbl ice water. pulse just til moist and clumpy adding more water by the tsp. if needed. divide dough in half and wrap in plastic. refrigerate for at least 2 hours. roll out dough and place in 9 inch pie pans...trim overhangs and crimp edges. crust is ready for filling..this dough also freezes well

[Mezzaluna]

Thank you for the recipe, Durangojo! I think I'll use chopped bittersweet chocolate to cut some of the sweetness.

What would be the difference for this recipe if I used dark corn syrup rather than light? Just curious; I have both.

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I just made up 1/2 recipe of the dough and stuck it in the fridge for tomorrow's baking.

[Grumio]

Japanese Fruit Pie! A true Southern specialty.

No kidding. This has got to be the most curiously named dish ever. It is a pie, and I suppose raisins do qualify as fruit, but where the Japanese comes from is anyone's guess.

Anyway, it's a pantry pie made with raisins, coconut & pecans. Google it & you'll find hundreds of virtually identical recipes (which are, reassuringly, virtually identical to the recipe my [East Texas] mother uses).

[gtull1]

Follow my sig link for a great beignet recipe.

[durangojo]

no difference in taste, your pie will just be a bit darker in color if you use the dark syrup..kinda like dark and light brown sugars

[henry]

so Mezz,

What did you end up bringing and how was the party? What did everyone else bring? Anything unusual?

[Mezzaluna]

I used durangojo's pie crust recipe. It was delicious and very flaky. I made the pecan pie with dark syrup, and it was great. I used a peach cobbler recipe that was very tasty, made with thawed frozen peaches. It was kind of thin in the 13X9 pan stipulated in the recipe; I'd make it again in a smaller pan so it could be thicker (deeper). I made a sugar-free cobbler but suffice to say it fed the food disposer; it was TERRIBLE, a waste of fruit.

The rest of the dinner was good. The main course was cornish hens glazed with a fruit glaze. Sides, brought by another couple, included corn pudding (excellent), a creamed onion and peanut dish (odd, but tasty) and some stewed apples.

We're hosting the next meal in March. It'll be northern Italian. I'll be trolling for a main course recipe soon.