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

Kentucky Bourbon Cake

Everyone who knows me knows I am a bourbon drinker. Why? Because when I was young my older brother, who was cool and knew all sorts of stuff, drank bourbon. So, if he said it was the best thing to drink, it was.

There’s something sweet and rich about good bourbon, and it’s not just for sipping but also for flavoring baked cakes and such.

Like this Kentucky Bourbon Cake, with both cake and frosting flavored with my favorite booze. We’ll feast on some while we watch the Kentucky Derby this weekend.

If there’s any left —- we can have another round on Sunday, Mother’s Day!

Kentucky Bourbon Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon grated fresh orange peel

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/4 cups plain Greek style yogurt

• 1/4 cup bourbon

• 1 cup butter

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, orange peel and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt and bourbon until well blended. Set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar together at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Alternate adding half the dry and liquid ingredients, beating after each addition; repeat with the remaining dry and liquid ingredients and beat for 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and uniform. Spoon the batter into the bundt pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. While the cake is still warm, pour the glaze over the top.

Makes 10 servings

Bourbon glaze

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons bourbon

Melt the butter and sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly and cook for several minutes until the sugar is nearly dissolved. Add the bourbon and whisk continually to incorporate it into the butter mixture. Cook for several minutes until the sugar dissolves completely.