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Photo by David Moore
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SWEET SPOTBlanco tequila and brown butter add an air of sophistication to the humble pecan pie ($6.95) at Los Sombreros, the 18-year-old restaurant housed in a rustic brick cottage in south Scottsdale, known for authentic Mexican cuisine and award-winning margaritas.
Sweet but hardly cloying, this pie is an ode to the meaty flavor of pecans. Packed with a tree’s worth of pecan pieces coddled in a handmade butter crust, it satisfies the sweet tooth without necessitating an appointment with the dentist.
A drizzle of dark caramel sauce and a fluted swirl of barely-sweetened whipped cream are admirable touches, but it’s the rich, brown-butter flavor and firm texture that give this pie soul. (The tequila doesn’t hurt, either.)
The pie is assembled in tried-and-true fashion, by mixing sugar, corn syrup and eggs together. But browning the butter (cooking it over low heat until the milk solids separate from the butterfat and subsequently caramelize) adds a crucial, deep flavor.
Owner Azucena Tovar says the pie is a seasonal dessert, generally reserved for the fall after the pecan harvest, but this year it’s available during the spring – so go have a slice. Pair it with a stiff Mexican coffee (coffee, Kahlua and tequila) or a shot of Agavero, a caramel-sweet tequila liqueur.
As much as we love the pie, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention another dessert specialty at Los Sombreros: the Baileys- and coffee-flavored flanecito ($5.50), a dreamy, creamy flan that is spoon-licking good.
DETAILSLos Sombreros2534 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale
480-994-1799
lossombreros.com