"The Problem: Pecan pies can be overwhelmingly sweet, with no real pecan flavor, and they too often turn out curdled and separated. What's more, the weepy filling turns the bottom crust soggy and leathery. The fact that the undercrust usually seems underbaked to begin with doesn't help matters.
The Goal: To create a recipe for a not-too-sweet pie with a smooth-textured, curdleproof filling and a properly baked bottom crust.
The Solution: Use a combination of dark brown sugar and light corn syrup for a classic praline flavor. To prevent a soggy bottom crust, heat the filling and add it to a hot prebaked crust, and to prevent curdling, cook the pie in a slow oven until almost done, then allow residual heat to finish the baking."
This recipe from Cook's Illustrated was, of course, one of the best pecan pies I've ever eaten. If you're as fastidious about recipes as I am, joining cooksillustrated.com is entirely worth it.
It looks big enough, right? Wrong.
Should have made two.
