Pecan Diamonds Recipe 43

Steps:

• To prepare the dough, put the butter, sugar, shortening, egg yolks and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beat to blend well.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and fold this into the butter mixture. Shape into a soft ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
• Be advised that the pastry in this recipe may crack or fall slightly apart when it is transferred to a baking dish. If it does, it may be patched with the fingers.
• Have ready a rimmed baking dish measuring about 8 by 12 inches. Remove the ball of dough from the refrigerator and let it stand to soften briefly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Shape the dough by hand into a rectangle measuring about 4 by 8 inches.
• Lay out a length of clear plastic wrap on a flat baking sheet and place the dough in the center. Cover with a second length of clear plastic wrap and roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring about 8 by 12 inches. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap. Invert the baking dish over the dough and quickly turn both the baking dish and the dough, letting the dough fall into the dish to cover the bottom of it. If the dough breaks or falls apart, it may be patched with the fingers with bits of dough.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork.
• Bake the dough for 10 minutes. Let it cool while you prepare the filling. Let the heat in the oven remain constant at 350 degrees.
• To prepare the filling, combine the butter, honey, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook, stirring, exactly three minutes.
• Remove from the heat and let cool. Fold in the pecans and stir in the cream. Blend well and immediately pour onto the baked crust. Spread evenly over the crust. It is advisable to cover the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil to catch any drippings. Place in the oven and bake 35 minutes. Let cool completely. Run a knife around the outside edge of the candy. It may be unmolded. Cut the candy into diamond shapes.

Steps:

• For the crust:.
• Combine flour, baking powder& salt, set aside.
• Cream butter,sugar and shortening until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
• Add dry ingredients, stirring until dough forms a ball.
• Wrap dough and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Between 2 sheets of waxed paper roll the dough into a 15x10 inch rectangle 1/8 inch thick.
• Remove top sheet of waxed paper and invert onto a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan.
• Remove remaining wax paper and if necessary, patch the dough.
• Prick the dough liberally with a fork to prevent shrinkage during baking, and bake 10 minutes (DO NOT BROWN).
• Cool completely and reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• For the Filling:.
• In a large saucepan combine butter, honey,and both sugars and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Stir in nuts and mix thoroughly.
• Stir in cream and mix thoroughly.
• Set cooled partially baked crust into a pan of the same size (this is necessary to prevent burning of the crust while topping caramelizes).
• CAREFULLY spread pecan mixture over partially baked crust (mixture will be extremely hot and can severly burn you).
• Bake 35 minutes in 350F oven.
• Cool completely in pans on wire rack.
• Once cool cut crosswise into 1 1/2 inch stips, then cut diagonally at 2 inch intervals to form diamonds.
• **It is recommended that you do not use dark coated baking pans for this recipe.
• If you must, shorten baking time by at least 10 minutes.

Steps:

• For the dough, combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut the butter into 8 to 10 pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Rub the butter in finely; be careful that the mixture remains cool and powdery. Beat the eggs lightly and stir them into the dough with a fork. Continue stirring until the dough masses together. Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead lightly, until the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a rectangle about 1-inch thick and wrap in plastic. Chill the dough until it is firm, about 1 hour.
• Butter a 10 x 15-inch jelly roll pan. Roll the dough to a rectangle about 12 x 17 inches. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin, then unroll it into the pan. Press the dough well into the bottom and sides of the pan and fold the excess dough into the pan. Make a high fluted edge around the edge of the pan. Chill the dough-lined pan while preparing the filling.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan and mix well. Place on medium heat and stir occasionally, until the syrup comes to a boil. At the boil, add the butter and cream and return to a boil. Simmer the mixture for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and rum.
• Place the chopped pecans in a heatproof mixing bowl. Pour the cooked syrup over the pecans and stir well to mix. Pour the filling on the dough in the pan and spread it evenly with a metal spatula.
• Bake the pastry on the lowest rack of the oven for about 30 minutes. Turn the pan occasionally to make sure that the dough and the filling bake evenly. Remove the pan from the oven and cool it on a rack to room temperature. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
• To unmold the pastry, run a small, sharp knife between the crust and the sides of the pan. Place the pan on low heat for a few seconds to loosen the pastry. Place a cookie sheet on the top and invert. Remove the pan in which the pastry baked and replace it with a cutting board. Invert, remove the cookie sheet and trim away the edges of the pastry.
• Cut the pastry into 1 1/2- inch diamonds.

Steps:

• Adjust rack to lower third of oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. DOUGH: Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor bowl. Process just to blend the ingredients. Add the butter pieces all at once, and process with on/off bursts until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal. Whisk the egg and vanilla together in a small bowl. With the motor on, pour the egg mixture down the feed tube. Process just until the ingredients form a ball. Divide the dough into eight pieces and scatter them over an ungreased 10x15x1" cool baking pan. With floured fingertips, pat the dough to extend the portions to cover the pan as evenly as possible. Bake for 10 minutes. don't allow the dough to color. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degree F. TOPPING: Combine the butter, honey, and sugars in a heavy-bottomed 1 1/2 qt saucepan. Heat over med-low heat until butter melts; then raise heat to medium and bring the mixture to boil. Without stirring, allow mixture to boil only 1 minute. Turn off heat, stir in the cream, nuts, and zest. Pour over bottom crust; return crust to oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the topping is an amber color. Topping will bubble toward the end of baking. Place on a wire rack to cool to allow the topping to firm before cutting. Using a ruler as a guide and small paring knife, make marks at 2" intervals on the long sides. Cut along the diagonals to form diamond-shaped bars. After cutting, cover baking pan with aluminum foil and store up to 4 days at room temperature. Seal the foil around the rim of the pan without letting the foil touch and disrupt the topping's glossy surface.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• To prepare the dough, combine the butter, sugar and shortening in a mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs.
• Sift together the flours and baking powder.
• Fold flour mixture, salt, vanilla and almond extracts into creamed butter mixture. Knead briefly.
• Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape, mounding the outside edges slightly to contain the filling. Place it on a baking sheet or shape the rolled-out dough into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, mounding the edges slightly. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Do not let the dough darken as it bakes.
• To prepare the filling, combine butter, sugars and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook about three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pecans. Let cool. Stir in cream.
• Pour the filling into the baked dough and smooth it over to the edges. Set the baking sheet or baking pan on a second baking sheet and return it to the oven. The bottom pan will prevent overcooking. Bake 20 minutes or longer until the filling seems firm. Remove from the oven and let cool briefly. Slide the filled pastry onto a flat surface and when cool enough, cut it into bite-size squares or rectangles.

Steps:

• for crust: Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Line 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, leaving 1-inch overhang on all sides.
• Butter foil.
• Blend flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in processor.
• Add butter and process until mixture begins to clump together.
• Press dough evenly onto bottom of foil-lined pan.
• Bake crust until set and light golden, about 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• Let stand while preparing topping.
• Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
• for topping: Stir brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils; boil 1 minute.
• Add pecans and cream; boil until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in vanilla.
• Pour hot topping over warm crust.
• Bake nut-topped crust until caramel is darker and bubbles thickly, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer pan to rack.
• Cool completely in pan (topping will harden).
• Lift foil out of pan onto cutting board.
• Using heavy sharp knife, cut crust with nut topping into 1 1/2x1-inch diamonds.
• (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature.) Makes about 32.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Press into an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Reduce temperature to 350°., To make filling, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate; stir until smooth. Cool. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and melted chocolate; fold in pecans. , Pour filling over crust. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into diamond-shaped bars.