Sometimes it just doesn’t get any better than a simple slice of pie. Growing up, I remember hanging out in the kitchen watching my mother as she’d bake pie after pie for holidays and family celebrations, her creations piled high with summer fruit, or perhaps filled with delicate custards. And while pumpkin came close, her pecan was always my favorite.

Pie is still a favorite go-to dessert when I’m planning for company — one that I love especially because I can prepare it in advance: make the dough a day or two in advance, then bake the morning of, giving the pie a few hours to set up before serving (and giving it a chance to fill the house with its fragrance as it cools).

A couple of weeks ago, my partner, Val, and I hosted a bunch of family for a weekend cookout at Val’s family home up in Sacramento, and the pie was on the menu (it’s a longtime favorite with Val’s family as well). The recipe uses dark brown sugar for extra flavor, and I add a touch of bourbon as the liquor compliments the rich notes from the toasted pecans.

PIE TIPS

If you’re new to making pies, or feel less than confident about your skill, you’re not alone. Pie — particularly pie dough — can be intimidating, even for professionals. I wrote a story demystifying the process, and here are a few handy tips:

Keep your ingredients cold. Chilling the ingredients helps to prevent the flour from absorbing too much liquid, resulting in a tough crust. I chill everything, including the flour, before starting.
Add a touch of sugar to the dough. In addition to adding a nice hint of sweetness to the dough (we want a crust that tastes good, right?), I learned from legendary baker Rose Levy Beranbaum that the sugar actually helps to tenderize the dough, giving the crust a better texture. Another trick? Award-winning baker Nicole Rucker dissolves the sugar in water before combining with the other ingredients to make sure it is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
The cider vinegar in this recipe also helps to shorten or tenderize the dough. While you’ll smell the vinegar as you assemble the crust, the smell and flavor will disappear as the crust bakes.
Don’t overwork the dough when mixing. I actually recommend using a food processor to combine the ingredients; the processor works quickly, keeping the ingredients cold as they’re combined.
Make the dough at least an hour, up to a few days, in advance. This gives the dough time to relax and properly chill before rolling.
Roll the dough onto a sheet of lightly floured parchment or wax paper. It’s a great trick I learned from my mom. This makes it easier to roll out the dough evenly (I like to give the dough a quarter turn between rolls to insure even thickness throughout), and is also a handy way to invert the dough into the pie dish (arrange the dish over the rolled dough, then slide your hand under the paper and flip). Yeah, you’ll have a bit of a mess from the extra flour flying around as you flip the dough over, but I’ve always found it so much easier than trying to fold the dough in quarters, or wrapping it around a rolling pin, before positioning it in the dish.
Have all of your ingredients and equipment ready before you start working (often called “mise-en-place”). I do this with every recipe before I start working to make sure I’m not missing anything (nothing like having to make a last-minute trip to the store at a crucial point in a recipe), and so I’m confident I’m prepared.

Comment below or email if you have any questions. Otherwise, enjoy!

BOURBON AND BROWN SUGAR PECAN PIE

Total time: About 1 hour, plus chilling time

Servings: makes 1 (9- to 10-inch) pie

FLAKY PIE CRUST

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup water

2 1/4 teaspoons cider vinegar

2 1/4 cups (9.6 ounces) bleached all-purpose flour

Generous 1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup cold shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Ice water, if needed

In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the cider vinegar, and cover and refrigerate until well-chilled
To make the dough, pulse together the flour and salt in a food processor until thoroughly combined (to make the dough by hand, use a large bowl and a pastry cutter or fork). Add the shortening and pulse until incorporated (the dough will resemble moist sand). Add the butter and pulse just until the butter mixture is reduced to pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle the sugar water over the mixture and pulse a few times until incorporated. Remove the crumbly mixture to a large bowl and very gently press or knead the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, adding additional ice water, a tablespoon at a time, if needed. Mold the dough into a disk roughly 6 inches in diameter. Cover the disk tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, up to 2 days.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a large circle approximately 1/8-inch thick. Place in a baking dish or pan, trimming any excess that extends more than 1 inch from the sides of the dish and crimping the edges as desired. Use any extra dough to make a decorative border, or save for later use (it makes great cookies served with jam). Freeze the formed shell 20 to 30 minutes before filling and baking.

PECAN PIE ASSEMBLY

3 large whole eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) melted butter

Scant 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon

2 cups pecan halves

Prepared pie shell

Prepared egg wash (1 egg, beaten)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Whisk in the corn syrup and sugar, then the melted butter, salt and bourbon. Stir in the pecan halves.
Fill the pie shell with the filling, so it just comes to the base of the top of the crust (be careful not to overfill).
Bake the pie in the center of the oven until the filling is set and the crust is puffed and golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove to a rack to cool completely before serving. The pie will keep, covered and refrigerated, up to 5 days.

Note: Adapted from a family recipe. The pie dough is adapted from a recipe I created for the Los Angeles Times.