This date pie with pecans and dark chocolate brings me right back to my time in Egypt. When I was working on the Red Sea coast this was a treat. A rich and nutty pie that would often be made for Eid celebrations or at the end of the date season. I have added the vanilla crème fraîche for a refreshing and light accompaniment to balance the sweet and nutty tones of this delicious gooey pie.
Servings: 8 people
Equipment
- 21 cm pie tin with a loose bottom
Ingredients
For the crust
- 100 gram butter
- 200 gram cake flour
- 65 gram sugar
- 1 egg
For the filling
- 125 gram butter
- 125 gram brown sugar
- 75 ml golden syrup
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 4 medium eggs
- 200 gr pecan nuts
- 100 gr chopped dark chocolate
- 150 gr chopped dates
For the vanilla crème fraîche
- 200 ml crème fraîche
- 20 gram caster sugar
- 1/2 pc vanilla pod
Instructions
For the crust
- Dice the butter and mix with the sugar, flour, and lightly beaten egg. Mix the dough loosely and don't over mix. Flatten the dough, wrap in plastic and leave it to rest in the fridge for 30min.
- Roll out the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness and line the baking tin. Pierce the dough with a fork and put it back in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. Bake the crust at 170°c for 20 minutes till it has a light brown colour.
For the filling
- Roast pecans at 180°c for 8 minutes or till they are lightly toasted, chop them coarsely.
- Chop the chocolate and the dates coarse and mix with the pecans.
- Melt the butter, sugar, golden syrup, cinnamon, and star anise in a pot and leave it to infuse for 15 minutes. Let it cool down, remove the star anise and cinnamon and mix in the eggs with a spatula. Add the chocolate, pecans, and dates and mix them together.
- Pour the mixture into the crust-lined cake tin and bake at 145°c for 45 minutes.
For the vanilla crème fraîche
- Whisk the crème fraîche with the vanilla pod seeds and sugar till stiff peaks.
- Serve the datepie warm with a scoop of vanilla crème fraîche.