2 Questions about pecan pie for Harold McGee

[Richard Danzey]

Thanks for participating in this event. My wife, now knows what to give me for Christmas<G>.

I have two questions about making a pecan pie come out a little differently.

First: How do I reduce or even eliminate the custardy quality to the filling, leaving just a rich caramelized syrup like product, instead?

Second: What changes should I make, in ingredients or procedure, to allow the filling to almost solidify, leaving a product that is gummy gooey, almost pull your teeth out of their sockets sticky?

I've had pecan pie with these qualities and prefer it to the conventional outcome, but it was long ago, and I never thought to find out how it was accomplished. Now it's not possible.

Best wishes for great success with your new book. And thanks for writing it. I can't tell you how many times I've wished for an update with even more included. Looking to see if you might have done so, is what led me to eGullet at this point in time, only to find out there *is* a new book, and you would be on eGullet to answer questions, to boot. Thanks, again...

danz

[Harold McGee]

thanks for your kind wishes, and I'm glad you got a post in. The custardy quality comes from the egg proteins, and the gooey quality from the sugars and corn syrup. The way to minimize the former and maximize the latter is to reduce the proportion of eggs and increase the sugar and syrup.