Pecan Puddings

NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT, pecan pie is rich. It's also a minefield for cooks: If you make pecan pie, your guests will eat it, which is good. But they tend to eat too much, and the next thing you know you're listening to a lot of whining because they've made themselves sick.

This year I stumbled on a way to get all the good stuff out of making pecan pie while lightening the load a bit. My trick also encourages portion control, letting people enjoy this much-loved dessert with much less risk of overeating it.

What happened was this: I made a pecan pie for Thanksgiving, but I ran out of space in the pie crust before I ran out of pie filling. So I grabbed a small glass ramekin, just big enough to hold about a quarter cup of pie filling, sprayed it with cooking spray, poured the remaining pie filling into that, and put it in the oven alongside the pie. I took it out of the oven about 10 minutes before the pie was done (it cooked faster because it was in a small glass container), let it cool, and then gave it to my husband as a treat. He said he didn't miss the pie crust at all, and that the amount of pie filling in the ramekin was exactly the amount he would (ideally) eat in one serving.

Tim also raved about the recipe I used for filling, which is based on the one in my precious 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking. I've tried a lot of pecan pie recipes, and also tasted a lot of commercially made pecan pies. In my opinion (and Tim's), this is the one that gives the perfect balance of sweetness to pecan flavor.

2 cups pecan pieces
3 large or 4 medium eggs (I prefer the latter)
1 cup sugar
1 cup golden corn syrup
3 tablespoons regular butter (with salt), melted
1 tablespoon dark rum (I use Gosling's Black Seal, which is also my favorite sippin' liquor)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, with the rack in the center of the oven.

Spread the pecan pieces on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, stirring at least once, for 6 to 10 minutes. (To find out whether they're done, give them a sniff. If they smell roasted, they are.)

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining ingredients until blended.

Stir in the toasted nuts.

Spray ramekins with butter-flavored cooking spray. (How many ramekins you'll need depends on how big they are. For the best portion control, use ones that hold only about a quarter cup.)

Pour pie filling into ramekins. Put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven. Bake until the edges are firm and the center is just barely set, about 25 minutes.

Cool before serving.

These can be served with a small dollup of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (use nonfat for more calorie control).

They can be kept for 2 days in the refrigerator. But warm them to room temp or place them in a 275 degree oven for 10 minutes before you serve them.