Pecan Pie for Two in honor of Pi Day

By Kath Dedon

Yesterday was the best “Pi Day” of the Century. It was 3/14/15 and the first five digits of Pi are 3.1415! The next 3.1415 Pi Day won’t happen until 2115. I had to make a pie!

Since it was just the two of us for dinner, I decided to make Pecan Pie for Two. I bought a 6-inch pie plate and Internet research proved that its 4-cup capacity is exactly half of the 8-cup capacity of a 9-inch pie plate. That means I can simply cut any pie recipe in half to make a small pie for two.

I turned to my trusty Pecan Pie recipe and went to work. It was actually pretty easy, but I did have to deal with using 1½ eggs. If you have a kitchen scale, you can measure ½ of an egg by weight. I put a bowl on the scale and set it to zero grams. Leaving the bowl on the scale, I broke an egg into the bowl. My large egg weighed 48 grams. Still leaving the bowl on the scale, I whisked the egg. I then used a spoon to remove spoonfuls of egg until I had 24 grams left in the bowl. Voila! I had ½ of an egg. If you don’t have a scale, you could just whisk the egg and eyeball it. Just spoon out what looks like about half of the egg. 😉

I was quite pleased with the way my Pecan Pie for Two turned out!  It was actually quite adorable. Bob thought it should literally be “for two”, as in cut the pie in two – half for me and half for you. I pointed out that that would be like eating ¼ of a 9-inch pecan pie. This cute pie serves four.

If you’re interested in baking smaller pies (or quiches?) to serve two people, I highly recommend getting a 6-inch pie plate. Maybe you’ll make my Pecan Pie for Two for yourself and your honey!

Pecan Pie for Two

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(print the recipe)

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Serves 4 (or 2 if you want really big pieces)

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Olive Oil Pastry for a Single Crust Pie

(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

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 I used to use Gold Medal Flour, but found that King Arthur Flour gives much better results! It makes a difference.

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3/4 cups (90 g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 

1/4 teaspoon salt

2.8 (almost three) tablespoons extra light (mild tasting) olive oil

2 tablespoons cold milk

½ teaspoon vinegar

Waxed paper for rolling the dough

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A 6-inch pie plate is needed for this recipe

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1. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl.

2. Put the olive oil in a 1 cup measuring cup.

3. Add the milk and the vinegar to the same cup with the oil.Add the oil mixture to the flour all at once and stir with a fork just until it can be formed into a ball.

4. Form the dough into a ball and put it on a 12-inch sheet of waxed paper.(If you put a little water under the bottom of the waxed paper, it won’t slide around when you roll out the dough.)Flatten it with your hand; put another sheet of waxed paper on top and roll the dough out until it’s large enough to fit in the pie plate. (You can put the pie plate over the dough to judge the size.)

5. Carefully remove the top sheet of waxed paper. Lift the bottom sheet and dough up and put it paper-side up over the pie plate. Carefully remove the waxed paper and fit the dough into the pie plate.

6. Finish the edge of the crust the way you like. I simply use a fork to press into the dough around the edge.

Pecan Pie Filling

1 1/2 eggs (See tips in blog post for measuring ½ of an egg)

1/4 cup honey

2.8 (almost 3) tablespoons pure maple syrup

Pinch of salt

2.8 (almost 3) tablespoons melted butter

¾ cup pecan halves (it’s OK if they’re broken)

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1. Place a large rimmed baking sheet in the oven andpreheat to 350˚. (Don’t skip the baking sheet. It catches spillovers.)

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs slightly with a fork.

3. Add the honey, maple syrup, and salt and stir until well-blended.

4. While stirring constantly, pour in the melted butter; mix well.

5. Stir in the pecan halves. Pour the pecan filling into the prepared pie crust.

6. Place the pie on the baking sheet that has preheated in the oven (350˚). Bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted off-center comes out clean. (If you have an instant-read thermometer, it should read 185°.) Cool on a wire rack.

My 6-inch Pecan Pie for Two sitting in my 9-inch pie plate

Two of the four servings of my 6-inch Pecan Pie for Two