Chocolate Pecan Pie

The recipe for this Chocolate Pecan Pie is one that we created and originally shared early last year over on High Tea With Dragons as a guest post while Kirsten was away on her honeymoon.
Pecan Pie is one of the first things I made and posted about back when I started up Baking Makes Things Better.  I’ve always wanted to try a chocolate version of Pecan Pie so this is a slight variation on my original recipe. 
This pie would go great with cream, custard or ice cream, but is also amazing on its own. You could buy a pre-made pastry, or challenge yourself to try make the chocolate pastry recipe below.

Serves about 10.

Sweet short pastry:
Ingredients:
2 cups standard flour
1 cup icing sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
250g cold butter, cubed
2 –3 tablespoons icy water

Method:
Place all the ingredients, except the water, into a food processor.  Pulse until combined.
With the motor running, add enough water to the dough to form a ball (I usually use 2 tablespoons).
Press into a greased 25cm round lose based flan pan.  Chill for 1 hour.

Filling:
Ingredients:
350g pecans, chopped coarsely
1 vanilla bean
2 cups cream
1 ¾ cups brown sugar
100g butter
100g dark chocolate broken into chunks (I used Whittakers 50% Chocolate)
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional – it enhances the chocolate flavour)
2 eggs, beaten

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170˚C.  Place an oven tray in the middle of the oven to heat.
Place the pecans onto the uncooked pastry base, then place it back in the fridge until needed.
Slice the vanilla bean in half and place it with all the ingredients, except the eggs, in a saucepan.  Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves and the butter and chocolate have melted to make a smooth sauce.  Remove the vanilla bean, cool the sauce and add the eggs.
Pour the sauce over the pecans.  Bake the pie for approximately 40 minutes or until the centre of the pie has set (it will wobble slightly when lightly nudged if it needs more time in the oven).  Remove from the oven onto a wire rack to cool, then place in the fridge for at least four hours to set (it will crumble if cut earlier). 
Cut into wedges and serve.