Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pithiviers

Made with homemade plant-based puff pastry

This flaky pastry will be the star of your Thanksgiving dessert spread

A pithiviers is a French puff pastry pie that is typically filled with almond cream, similar to the galette des rois (king cake) served in January for the Epiphany. But I love this showstopping dessert so much that I decided to give it a twist for Thanksgiving in a nod to one of my favorite pies: chocolate pecan. So pecans replace almonds in a simple cream infused with vanilla, cinnamon, and a generous glug of bourbon. The pecan cream is sprinkled with dark chocolate (think chocolate almond croissant) before being encased in a vegan puff pastry pillowcase, which bakes up sky-high, with gloriously golden layers. The result is an epic holiday centerpiece that will blow everyone away this holiday season.

I mean…look at those layers

But first, the puff pastry. Puff pastry was one of those things that I had never even considered making until I studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. There, between pâtisserie and boulangerie courses, I made laminated doughs almost every day, and I realized that it actually isn't that hard - I promise! The key, truly, is properly managing the temperatures of the butter and the dough (détrempe in French). You need both to be cool, yet pliable, to create even, smooth layers, and if you follow the timing described below, you will have no problem with this. After that, it's just rolling and folding. It might seem like a long process, and yes you do need to plan ahead, but in terms of active time it's only about an hour. And in the end, you will have the most gorgeous, mile-high, shatteringly crisp puff pastry you have ever tasted, and you will never want to buy store-bought again.

Six turns creates shatteringly crisp, mile-high puff pastry

Vegan Puff Pastry Dough (Pâte Feuilletée)

Makes enough dough for one puff pastry pie

1 hour active time, 14 hrs total time

Ingredients

Détrempe (Dough)

120 g (1/2 cup) water, room temperature

3 g (1 tsp) kosher salt (Diamond Crystal or see note below)

85 g (6 tbsp) unsalted, cultured-style vegan butter (e.g. Miyoko's), melted

245 g (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour

Butter Block

225 g (1 cup) unsalted, cultured-style vegan butter (e.g. Miyoko's), refrigerated

Instructions

Make the Détrempe and prep the Butter Block

1. Dissolve the salt in the water, then add the melted vegan butter and stir to combine

2. Add the flour and stir with a stiff paddle or spoon until the mixture comes together

3. Turn the dough onto the counter and, using a bench scraper or flat-sided paddle, cut the dough downwards while pushing it away from you, then gather up the pieces, fold the dough in on itself, rotate it 90 degrees, and repeat; continue this kneading process for about 1-2 mins until you have a fairly smooth, homogenous ball

4. Stretch the dough into a roughly 6 x 6-inch square and place it on a piece of plastic

5. Wrap the dough tightly and freeze it for 15-20 mins, until it is cool and slightly firm but still pliable

6. Meanwhile, remove the remaining 225 g block of vegan butter from the fridge and let it sit on the counter while the dough is chilling

Laminate the puff pastry - day 1

1. Place the softened block of vegan butter on a piece of parchment paper

2. Fold the paper into a roughly 7 x 7-inch square around the butter block

3. Using a rolling pin, gently pound and roll the butter until it fills up the entire square of parchment, being careful not to let the shape spread or deform; in the end you should have a 7 x 7-inch square of butter, about 1/3 inch thick

4. Remove the chilled Détrempe from the freezer, and, working quickly, roll it out on a lightly floured countertop into a 10 x 10-inch rectangle

5. Place the Butter Block in the center of the dough at a 45-degree angle; the corners of the butter should sit just inside the edges of the dough (see picture 1 below)

6. Fold up each corner of the dough into the center of the butter block, pinching the edges to seal the butter inside (see picture 2 below)

7. Lightly dust the counter and top of the dough with flour, then, starting at the bottom of the dough and working away from you, lightly press the rolling pin to make horizontal depressions in the dough all the way along it; the goal is to gently and evenly compress and stretch the butter and dough together

8. Now, begin rolling the dough forwards and backwards, re-flouring as needed, until it is a 7 x 21-inch rectangle (see picture 3 below)

9. Brush off any excess flour, then fold the lower third of the dough into the center third; fold the top third over the middle third; this is called a "simple turn" and you will now have a 7 x 7-inch square of dough again (see picture 4 below)

10. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the open, seam side is facing you (see picture 5 below)

11. Working quickly, as the dough will start to soften at this point, re-roll into another 7 x 21-inch rectangle, keeping the short, seam side facing you at all times

12. Perform another simple turn (you will have completed 2 simple turns total at this point)

13. Wrap the dough in plastic and freeze for 30 mins, until it is again cool and firm but slightly pliable

14. Repeat steps 7-13; you will now have completed 4 simple turns, and it is best to let the dough relax in the fridge before finishing the last 2

15. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or overnight

Laminate the puff pastry - day 2

1. Remove the dough from the fridge and repeat steps 7 - 14 from the previous section

2. At this point you will have completed 6 simple turns and the lamination is finished

3. Freeze the dough for 30 mins, until it is again cool and firm, but slightly pliable

4. The dough is now ready to use, and it can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw in the fridge overnight before using

Making vegan puff pastry dough: (1) setting the butter block on the détrempe, (2) encasing the butter block, (3) rolling the dough, (4) performing a simple turn, (5) rotating 90 degrees and rolling again

Notes & Variations

Ingredient Notes

• Kosher salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which has larger crystals than other kinds of kosher salt, normal table salt or fine sea salt. As a result, when measured by volume (teaspoons/tablespoons) it will add less "saltiness" than an equal quantity of the other salts. If you are not using Diamond Crystal, I recommend measuring your salt by weight, in which case you won't run into this issue. Otherwise, use half the volume quantity of salt

• Vegan butter: There are two main types of vegan butter: (1) margarine-style products that are basically butter-flavored vegetable shortening (e.g. Earth Balance or Violife), and (2) cultured-style products made from cashew, coconut, or other kinds of fats (e.g. Miyoko's). I generally prefer the first type in cakes, muffins, and frostings, where the more obvious "butter" flavor and greater stability, and yellow color are beneficial. I prefer the second type in recipes where the fat will caramelize, such as cookies, pie or tart dough, and bread, as margarine-style butters can develop unpleasant burnt oil flavors when heated to high temperatures. Also, cultured-style butter can be browned similarly to dairy butter, while margarine-style butter cannot

Sample Timeline

• Day 1

  • 7:00 PM - Make détrempe

  • 7:30 PM - Make butter block, turns 1 and 2

  • 8:15 PM - Turns 3 and 4

• Day 2

  • 8:30 AM - Turns 5 and 6

  • 9:15 AM - Dough ready to use

Things I Used

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Ingredients

King Arthur all-purpose flour

Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Miyoko’s unsalted vegan butter

Equipment

French-style rolling pin

This pastry is filled with bourbon pecan cream and dark chocolate chips

The recipe for my chocolate bourbon pecan pithiviers is available below for paid subscribers!