Chocolate Pecan Pie With Chantilly Cream

This recipe for silky, crunchy chocolate pecan pie is the secret to appeasing each and every one of your potluck guests. Pastry chef Liana Sinclair of Supperland in Charlotte, North Carolina—one of our 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022—finds the traditional version of the Southern classic a tad sweet, so she keeps her rendition in check with the savory deep and bittersweet notes of chocolate in three ways. First, she adds Dutch cocoa powder to the flaky, buttery pie shell. Next, she tosses semisweet chocolate wafers into the unbaked pie crust before laying on the pecans and pouring the pie filling over the lot. Finally, Sinclair gilds her baked pie with a chantilly (a fancy word for whipped cream) that’s enriched with melted chocolate and a splash of bourbon. Feel free to swap out the spirit for hazelnut liqueur if you’re a Nutella lover or spiced rum when the holidays roll around—or, if you don’t keep alcohol around, swap it out for 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Classic pecan pie? You’ve got some competition.

Tip: Set your pie plate on a baking sheet to prevent any bubbling drips from finding their way to the bottom of your oven. Bonus: This makes moving the pie to and fro so much easier.

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Mix ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 3 Tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 2¾ cups (344 g) all-purpose flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed to combine. Add 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces, and cover bowl with a kitchen towel (this will keep the flour from flying out) and beat until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining, about 1 minute. Uncover bowl and add 2 large egg yolks; beat just until combined.

With motor running, drizzle in 2½ Tbsp. ice water and mix until incorporated. Dough should just hold together when squeezed in your hand but still be crumbly. If needed, add more water 1 tsp. at a time, turning on mixer in bursts to combine, until you get there (you want to be careful not to overwork). Turn dough out onto a work surface and pat into a 6″-diameter disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 20 minutes and up to 2 days.

Roll out disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to about a 14″-diameter round. Carefully wrap around rolling pin and unfurl into a 9″-diameter pie dish. Gently lift up dough so it slumps down into edges of dish. Trim overhang and crimp edges as desired. Chill crust 15 minutes.

While crust is chilling, preheat oven to 350°. Whisk 4 large eggs, room temperature, ¾ cup light corn syrup, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) dark brown sugar, ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Remove crust from fridge and evenly arrange ½ cup semisweet chocolate wafers (disks, pistoles, fèves) or chips over, then scatter 2 cups raw pecan halves evenly on top. Pour egg mixture into crust.

Bake pie until edges of filling are set and slightly puffed but center is still sunken and wobbles slightly when pie is gently shaken, about 1 hour (it will set more as it cools). Transfer pan to a wire rack and let pie cool, at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, place ½ cup milk chocolate wafers (disks, pistoles, fèves) or chips in a medium bowl. Bring ¼ cup heavy cream and remaining ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt to a boil in a small saucepan; immediately remove from heat. Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk in 4 tsp. bourbon. Cover milk chocolate mixture and chill until ready to use.