A Tale of Two Pies - The Pumpkin and the Pecan

Christmas is a time for celebrating with great food- and with great food, you need to have a great dessert. Pies are always fairly easy to make, and usually make everyone happy. For this past Christmas, I was called upon to produce two pies for the family dessert- a traditional pumpkin pie, and (by request), one of my favorites- a chocolate covered pecan pie.

Pecan Pie with Chocolate Ganache Topping

Pecan pie is a classic southern dessert. A sweet, gelatinous filling studded with flavorful pecans- the ones at the top are nicely caramelized adding even more flavor- sweet and decadent, it is easy to see why it is many people's favorite. It is also remarkably simple to make- and like many other simple ideas, small variations can have a huge effect on the outcome. My favorite way to modify the simple pecan pie is to add a layer of rich, chocolate topping- a simple idea to enhance a simple dessert...