Pecan pie is one of my favorites. I’ve made it only a handful of times, if even that. I love the nutty caramel filling goodness. It’s so decadent and something that I only ever have on occasion. I don’t recall having it as a child, but I do remember ordering it way back when while I was working on my undergraduate degree and all the late night “studying” (wink, wink) my friends and I did.

I think the last time I made it was also for Thanksgiving 10 years or so ago when we had quite the crew joining us. I forgot how temperamental it can be and was quickly reminded when I opened the oven to discover this hot mess:

Cooking mishaps happen, right? At some time during the baking cycle, the filling busted through the edge of the crust, spilled onto the pan (thank God, I had it on a baking sheet), and reared it’s ugly head and I thought I had a major flop on my hands. I moved quickly not wanting that caramel to forever take residence on my pan and cleared away what I could salvage onto a plate and what wouldn’t come off at once, I allowed to soak. But you know what? The smell was incredible and the stuff I moved onto a plate was quickly nibbled up. All was not lost!

Ingredients:

• 1 9 inch pie crust
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Preparation:

Partially pre-bake a pie crust in a 9″ pie pan according to instructions, then heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon; add eggs and whisk until smooth.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until the butter turns brown and fragrant. Slowly pour butter into the sugar mixture, and whisk to combine. Stir in chopped pecans, the pour filling into prepared pie crust. If desired, line the top of the filling with additional pecans.

Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until the filling is set and only slightly jiggly. Once set, remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack for 3-4 hours before slicing.

Source: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/best-pecan-pie-recipe/

Note: Admittedly, I used a ready made pie crust and followed the instructions as noted on the package. I’m not sure what I could have done differently to prevent the side explosion, but thankfully, the taste was unaltered and sometimes you just don’t care what the food looks like when it tastes so good a little thing I like to call Real Life!