Tuesday 22 January 2013

Canadian Pecan Pie

John Bishop's Pecan and Maple Syrup Tart 

Happy Birthday to me! I spent part of the day baking a pie. (My son also made me a chocolate cake but it is not iced yet.)

Maple Pecan Tart
This is not a budget pie. It has two cups of pecans in it and one cup of maple syrup. Of course we had 3/4 of a cup of maple syrup left so I went shopping on my birthday to get more. Thankfully the grocery store is near and full of Uncle Luke's real maple syrup from Quebec.  I used Vancouver chef John Bishop's recipe from his book Simply Bishop's: Easy Seasonal Recipes. The Pecan and Maple Syrup Tart is aptly in the winter section and was easy.  In fact, I have made it many times before.
John Bishop's Simply Bishops
By the way, Bishop's is a fancy restaurant on 4th Avenue in Vancouver. When we were newly weds, living in Kitsilano, we used to go to that restaurant, but could only afford dessert.  Which was delicious.

At lunch, we also broke out the preserves I canned last summer, now that we are in the depths of winter.
Canned applesauce and peaches.

Canned peaches in bowl from Creek Clayworks, in Roberts Creek, BC.

If you want to know how much I love peaches, grab a copy of The Planet Earth Poetry Anthology, which will be out soon from Leaf Press, which will have a copy of my poem "Charm" in which I swoon over peaches and the Similkameen Valley.

While we are on topic of special food, here are some more pictures of baking.
Buche de Noel at Christmas

This Caramel-Pecan Buche de Noel recipe, which I have made every Christmas for six years, is in the December 2006 issue of Bon Appetit. Yes, I love pecans. And dark chocolate. 

Party Cake

Party Cake
And this is the birthday cake I've made every year for my daughter since she was two. Luckily, her birthday is in raspberry season. It is from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef Takes Off.
For any of these melted chocolate toppings, I use Denman Island chocolate, either Simply Dark or Coco Loco.

Yes, birthdays are about food. What is your special holiday cake?


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