Derby Pie: Chocolate, Pecans and Bourbon, Oh My!

The Great Gatsby came out this weekend. Like everyone else in the world, I read it in high school and loved it. I especially remember wondering what a mint julep was--they seemed to always be drinking mint juleps! When I went off to W&L, mint juleps were a spring term tradition. Alumni weekend usually fell on Derby weekend, two forces conspiring for fraternity boys to descend upon the Lexington Kroger and clear it out of mint.

Last weekend, Andrew and I made plans to make mint juleps and watch the Kentucky Derby. So I made derby pie. It is the perfect, almost sinful combination of chocolate, pecans and bourbon. I used the America's Test Kitchen recipe almost exactly--aside from swapping pecans for walnuts, because pecans are better. Otherwise, it was perfect. You get a pretty strong taste of bourbon, which I love. The consistency of the pie would still be good if you left out the bourbon, but why would you do that?

Derby Pie from America's Test Kitchen
The star chefs at America's test kitchen recommend refrigerating and then freezing your crust before you bake it. I didn't do this, and I think it turned out fine. I would use pie weights if you have them. (I didn't, but my crust puffed up so much I finally went to Bed Bath & Beyond and dropped $5 on some ceramic weights the next day!)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cover your chilled pie crust with parchment paper and pie weights. I used my homemade pie crust (recipe here). Bake 20-25 minutes or until the dough doesn't look wet. Remove pie from oven, take off parchment paper and weights, and reduce temperature to 325 degrees.

Chop 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate into small pieces. Sprinkle the chocolate on the bottom of the hot crust and let it sit and melt. After 5 minutes, spread the chocolate into an even layer.

Cut 1 stick unsalted butter into small pieces. Melt it in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter is a nutty brown. Remove from heat and slowly stir in 3 tablespoons bourbon. Let cool 5 minutes.

Whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Slowly add the warm butter mixture.

Chop 1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans. (America's Test Kitchen says to toast the nuts first; I didn't and thought they were still delicious.) Add nuts to the mixture and pour the whole filling into the chocolate-lined crust. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until center only jiggles a little. Cool on a wire rack for 4 hours, or in the fridge.