Angelle's Dates and Cream Pie

Ingredients

Crust:

• 7 ounces "Honey Graham Crackers"
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Date Layer:

• 10 ounces whole pitted dry dates (recommended: Sunsweet)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Dash salt
• 2 tablespoons crushed pineapple
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Cream Layer:

• 1 (16-ounce) container sour cream
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Whipped Cream Topping:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Garnish:

• 4 to 5 dates, sliced
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup roasted chopped pecans

Crust Preparation:

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Process graham crackers in food processor until fine crumbs. Put in bowl and mix in chopped pecans, butter and salt. Pat into 9-inch pie pan. Pre-bake crust on bottom third rack of oven for 12 minutes

Date layer preparation:

Coarsely chop dates, then saute dates in butter for several minutes until caramelized; sprinkle with salt. In food processor, pulse pineapple and 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Add dates and process again until chunky.

Cream Layer preparation:

Mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla until well incorporated.

Assembly:

Spread Date mixture evenly over pre-baked crust. Spread cream layer evenly over date mixture. Bake in middle of oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F until filling jiggles only slightly in the middle. Cool immediately in refrigerator or on dry ice at least 40 minutes until filling has cooled down and set.

Whipped Cream preparation:

Whip cream, vanilla and sugar until semi-firm peaks form.

Topping/Garnish preparation:

Spread a 1/4-inch layer of whipped cream over top of pie. Slice dates and roll in sugar. Garnish pie with sliced dates, chopped roasted pecans, and pipe remaining whipped cream decoratively.