Katie Fogle's Kentucky Derby Pecan Pie

Recipes

Kentucky Derby Pecan Pie

By Katie Fogle with Kurt Fogle

The Kurt-Katie relationship is full of laughter – it only takes a few minutes of talking with the two of them (each on a different phone line, no less) to learn that. There’s a lot of mutual admiration here and Kurt gives the credit for this pie to Katie, though Kurt has his hand in it, too. But the crust… “She showed me what a crust should be,” he says. The importance of said pastry cannot be underestimated. “Katie, what are the two most important things for pie dough?” Katie pauses but only for a second. “Cold butter and… cold everything,” she says.

Simple as that.

“I learn everything through trial and error,” Katie says. “I’ve made pie crust every different way.” Kurt continues the thought: “It’s not hard to make a good [crust].” But the ingredients matter. ‘We’ve been watching Chris Bianco [the award-winning Phoenix pizza chef] on ‘Chef’s Table.’ The secret is the quality of the water.” You don’t want to bake with water you wouldn’t want to drink. And, “Katie doesn’t want to eat flavorless butter,” he goes on. In other words, buy the best flour and butter you can.

The reason Kurt gives Katie the credit is that “pie is 90% [about the] crust,” he says. But he added his bit, too – to the filling. He also added his bit to helping shape his wife’s career. Katie worked as a server – including at the now-shuttered Milwaukee Street Japanese restaurant Umami Moto, where Kurt was the staff dessert wizard – before she decided to pursue a career in pastry. She started out stubborn, thinking she could “do it on [her] own.” She eventually heeded the advice someone (ahem) gave her, to get trained at Chicago’s famed The French Pastry School and now her croissants and kouign amanns and lots of other butter-laden delights are on the shelves at her own Mid-way Bakery in 3rd Street Market Hall.

Nostalgia and tradition are woven into anything indulgent and this pie is no different. A classic pecan pie will rock anyone’s world, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it even better. In Kurt’s family, every Thanksgiving meant pies – apple, pumpkin and pecan. His grandpa was the family pie maker. One year, Kurt got the idea – from superstar chef Emeril Lagasse – to add bourbon and chocolate chips. “It’s about challenging the status quo,” Kurt says.

Simple as that. And golden.

Ingredients

Makes 2 Pies

Filling

400 grams of light corn syrup

200 grams large whole eggs

160 grams sucrose

40 g butter, melted

8 grams vanilla extract

180 grams pecan pieces

110 grams of dark chocolate chips

24 grams bourbon

4 grams of sea salt

Pie Crust

570 grams of all-purpose flour

40 grams sucrose

10 grams of sea salt

454 grams of cold butter

Instructions

Filling

Add the corn syrup, eggs, sucrose, butter and vanilla to a large bowl. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth or mix with a whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the pecans, dark chocolate chips, bourbon and salt and fold to combine. Pour the mixture into your prepared pie crust.

Eggwash the entirety of the exposed crust. Be gently thorough here. Don’t destroy your lamination, but a slight softening of edges can be expected. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden.

After 20 minutes, check your pie crust. To prevent it from browning too quickly, you may cover it with tented foil or a pie crust shield. Remove the finished pie from the oven and place it on a rack to cool. The filling will settle and thicken as it cools. Slice pthe ie with a serrated knife. Store leftovers covered at room temperature for one to two days or refrigerate for five days.

Pie Crust

Prepare the pie crusts the day before you want to bake the pie. It’s important to allow the crust to hydrate completely and for the gluten to rest.

Dice the butter into half-inch cubes and place in the refrigerator. Add ice cubes to a pitcher of water and set it aside to measure just before mixing.

Add the flour, sugar and sea salt to the food processor and pulse to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until the dough collects in small lumps and there are no large pieces of butter (about 20-30 times). Add the ice water and pulse three or four times until the water is absorbed. The dough will be slightly dry and crumbly.

Divide the dough in two, then plastic wrap and form into a disc, pressing the crust together as you’re wrapping it. Refrigerate the dough overnight.

When it comes to the pie you are making, you’ll have to decide if you par-bake your shell, fully bake it, or bake it from a raw state. It all depends on how well done you like your pastry. We recommend golden brown and delicious. Here, the Fogles provide a guide to baking (or par-baking, or not baking) your pie shells before adding the filling, depending on what the filling is:

Raw

Apple Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

Hand Pies and Pasties

Chess Pie

Par-baked

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Blueberry Pie

Cherry Pie

Fully Baked

Banana Cream Pie

Chocolate Silk

Lemon Meringue

Other Fresh Fruit Pies

Bio

Katie O’Neil was born into a cheesemaking family in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Growing up, she developed an eye for unique, family-oriented treats. Upon realizing that the factory life wasn’t for her, she headed to Milwaukee to find out what was. In college, Katie worked as a restaurant server and bartender, which gave her a unique perspective. Noticing that most kitchens did not have anyone focusing on desserts, she offered to become the pastry chef. Presenting a dessert to a guest, as its maker, provided Katie with the connection she craved. To bake is to provide nourishment, comfort or joy; sometimes it’s all three. Seeing this firsthand kicked her passion into overdrive. After working at Wauwatosa bakery Rocket Baby and as the pastry chef at SURG Restaurant Group’s Carnevor, she headed to Chicago to work for the Cacao Barry Chocolate Academy’s R&D kitchen. In 2020, Katie opened Dairyland with her husband Kurt, Joe McCormick and Brent Fogle at a ghost kitchen. Since then, she’s co-piloted Dairyland’s launch, its frozen custard program, and, in 2022, she opened Mid-Way Bakery, an American bakery that intersects a grandmother’s handmade quality, European technique and high-quality Wisconsin dairy.

Katie Fogle

Dairyland and Mid-Way Bakery

Katie Fogle

Dairyland and Mid-Way Bakery

About Dairyland and Mid-Way Bakery

Discover More!

Craving more delectable desserts? Dive into our full collection of sweet treats and discover your next favorite recipe! Select a recipe below to explore a world of irresistible options and satisfy your sweet tooth today.