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Maura Kilpatrick’s EspressoLaced Pecan Pie N OV E M B E R 2016
A MIDDLE EASTERN BAKERY might be the last place you’d expect to find the best pecan pie you’ve ever had, but Sofra in Cambridge, Massachusetts, delivers. “When we first opened, none of our customers knew what to make of our baklava and kunefe,” recalls chef Ana Sortun, who co-owns the bakery and café with pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick. “So we started selling desserts like Maura’s pecan pie to help build trust.” It has now been a favorite for five years, thanks in part to a filling swirled with toasty brown butter and studded with rich and chewy Medjool dates cooked in pleasantly bitter espresso (p. 153). Dates and nuts are a traditional Middle Eastern pairing, but they make an extraordinary version of this American classic. 1 Belmont St.; sofrabakery.com. —JULIA HEFFELFINGER
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F O L L O W U S @ F O O DA N D W I N E
photograph: john kernick; food stylist: simon andrews; style editor: suzie myers
The largest pecan pie was made in El Paso in 1999. It weighed 41,586 pounds, measured 50 feet wide and used 1,500 pounds of nuts.