Derby Pie

When Ed was growing up, it was a tradition in his family to watch the Kentucky Derby. One year he told his grandpa that a particular horse was a “sure thing.”

It wasn’t.

Lessons learned.

We watched the Derby as a family when our kids were young and then, one year, miracle of miracles! We went to the Kentucky Derby for real!

I placed a small bet on what I thought was a “sure thing.”

It was! I won!

I was elated and bought mint juleps for the people we were with.

Never again! Don’t waste my time adding sugar and mint to Bourbon.

And we had Derby Pie, which is a sweet confection with loads of sugar and chocolate and pecans too.

I’ve made my own versions over the years — I can’t have pecans in the house because of allergies so I use almonds or cashews. But pecans taste better and have the best texture for the pie.

So here, for all of you who will watch on Saturday (and even if you don’t) is my latest recipe for Derby Pie (which apparently is a trademarked title so I changed the name a bit to Derby Pie (Sort-of).

Derby Pie (Sort-of)

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 6 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons Bourbon

• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork, cover with aluminum foil, including the edges, and weight the foil with baking pellets or dried beans. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, return the crust to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Melt the butter with the chocolate over low heat, stir to blend them thoroughly and set aside to cool. Using a mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, flour, Bourbon, vanilla extract and salt together at medium speed for about 2-3 minutes until thoroughly blended. Add the melted butter-chocolate mixture and beat for another minute or so to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Fold in the nuts. Spoon the mixture into the partially baked crust. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a cake rack.

Makes 8 servings

Derby-ish Pie

I went to the Kentucky Derby once and in a stroke of good luck I actually made a small bet on the winning horse.

Of course I wore a hat.

Of course I drank a Mint Julep. To be honest, I think a Mint Julep is a colossal waste of bourbon. 

We always watch the Derby at home. It’s a terrifically exciting 2-minutes of sports and my husband Ed always relates the story of how when he was a little boy he watched the event with his grandfather and urged him to make a “family” bet on a “sure thing,” and his grandfather said there was no such thing as a sure thing. And of course Ed’s horse, the sure thing, came in 4th or 5th.

If you’re a Derby-watcher and need a little something Kentucky Derbyish to eat, try this pie. I call it Derby-ish Pie. It’s a riff on Derby Pie, a pecan pie lavished with melted chocolate plus chocolate chips, but the name Derby Pie is apparently trademarked.

Anyway, this really really gooey confection will charge your engines and make your sweet tooth happy. It’s best when served warm with a little vanilla ice cream or a blob of whipped cream. 

Derby-ish Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

6 tablespoons butter

8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (1-1/3 cups chocolate chips)

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork, cover with aluminum foil, including the edges, and weight the foil with baking pellets or dried beans. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, return the crust to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Melt the butter with 2 ounces (1/3 cup of chips) of the chocolate, stir to blend them thoroughly and set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla extract, salt, brown sugar and flour together until thoroughly blended. Stir in the melted butter-chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate (or chips) and nuts. Spoon the mixture into the partially baked crust. Bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a cake rack. Makes one pie serving 8 people