Pecazelnut Pie

This recipe was from a Beekman 1802 newsletter a few years back. When I lost the original email and my google searches only resulted in 404 errors, I contacted Beekman and they were gracious enough to send me the recipe.

Ingredients:
Pastry dough for single crust pie.
¾ stick unsalted butter
1 cups packed light brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
¾ cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange flavored liqueur
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup pecans
1 cup hazelnuts, roasted in 400F oven for 7 minute until toasted.
1 teaspoon coarse finishing salt

Preheat oven to 350F.
Roll out pastry dough on floured surface to 12″ round. Place into 9″ pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a ¾” overhang. Fold over edge and crimp. Chill in refrigerator or freeze for 20 minutes.

Melt butter in medium heavy saucepan. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add maple syrup and corn syrup, whisking to combine. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla,  ¼ teaspoon salt, and liqueur.

In separate bowl, gently beat eggs. Add liquid sugar mixture to eggs and stir.
Remove crust from freezer, put pecans and hazelnuts in pie shell and gently pour liquid mixture over them. Sprinkle surface with coarse salt.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until set. Cool and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

https://beekman1802.com/

Apple Cider Caramels

My go-to fall treat. It's before everyone is sugared out with holiday confections and these are unique and extremely flavorful. I also like that they're on the soft side.

Ingredients:

4 cups apple cider
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (fun fact: I've also used homemade pumpkin spice and it's nice too)
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks (tbh, I've used salted butter, and it's fine if you cut down the sea salt a tad)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
Neutral oil for the knife

Boil the apple cider in a 3- to- 4- quart saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to a dark, thick syrup, between 1/3 and 1/2 cup in volume. This takes about 35 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Line the bottom and sides of an 8- inch straight- sided square metal baking pan with parchment. 

Stir the cinnamon and flaky salt together in a small dish.

Once you are finished reducing the apple cider, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, sugars, and heavy cream. Return the pot to medium- high heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side, and let it boil until the thermometer reads 252 degrees, only about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on it, stirring constantly.

Immediately remove caramel from heat, add the cinnamon-salt mixture, and give the caramel several stirs to distribute it evenly. Pour caramel into the prepared pan. Let it sit until cool and firm—about 2 hours. 

Once caramel is firm, transfer the block to a cutting board. Use a well- oiled knife to cut the caramel into squares. Wrap each one in waxed paper or glassine, twisting the sides to close. Caramels will be somewhat on the soft side at room temperature, and chewy/firm from the fridge.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen