Trouble With Toast

Now that I have mastered chocolate chip banana bread (and, for the past few months, have been baking it for every occasion imaginable), I decided that it was time to tackle another dessert. And by golly, what did I see whilst flipping through my November “Cooking Light” issue? An absolutely gorgeous pecan tart. Correction–BOURBON pecan tart. With chocolate drizzle, no less. Drooooooool.

I put aside any notion of my tart looking as pretty as the one on the magazine stand. I did, however, want to make something yummy for my office’s holiday luncheon. To my surprise, the tart was relatively easy (once I secured a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan). As I do whenever possible, I substituted Egg Beaters for the eggs in the recipe. I did, however, use real sugar and real butter–I didn’t want to tempt the fates by trying to make the tart too healthy. I also upped the pecans to over a cup, which gave the tart a fuller flavor (and balanced the bourbon and molasses a bit) but also caused the filling to billow over the edges of the crust. Hey, like I said, I knew my creation wasn’t going to win any beauty pageants.

All of the taste-testers enjoyed the tart, though we all agreed that the chocolate drizzle was mostly for looks and actually overpowered the flavors of the crust and filling. I had a slice at room temperature and then one hot out of the microwave, and I strongly favored the former. In sum, this is a fairly simple and impressive dessert that you can tweak to fit your own personal preferences. Enjoy!

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  3/4 cup dark corn syrup
  3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  2 tablespoons bourbon
  2 tablespoons molasses
  1 tablespoon butter, melted
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  2 large eggs
  1 large egg white
  2/3 cup pecan halves
  1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
  Cooking spray
  1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine first 10 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in pecans. Roll dough into a 13-inch circle; fit into a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray. Trim excess crust using a sharp knife. Spoon sugar mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave on high 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate over tart.

Makes about 12 servings–and there are less than 300 calories in each wedge!