How To Make The Perfect Pecan Pie

Plus 10 fun spin-off recipes

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History of the Pecan Pie

Countless pies, cakes, puddings, puffs, and tortes were created centuries ago by bakers in Europe. Settlers in the New World brought those beloved confections with them, often adapting the age-old recipe to the local ingredients at hand. But the pecan pie is truly an American creation.

The pecan has the unique distinction of being the one nut tree native to North America and the pecan pie is unquestionably a Southern treat. However, despite the fact that pecans have been used in southern baking for ages, there is no record of a pecan pie until the late 1800s.

In Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History (1987), John Egerton writes: “We have heard the claim that Louisianans were eating pecan candies before 1800, and with sugar and syrup produced from cane at that time, it is conceivable that they were eating pecan pies, too, but there are no recipes or other bits of evidence to prove it….If Karo did not originate pecan pie, it certainly popularized the recipe…