Cane Syrup - Steens 100% Pure

Steens 100% Pure Cane Syrup 12 oz can - Louisiana Cane Syrup
Perfect for baking and especially pecan pie!

Steen’s Cane Syrup has been a Southern staple since 1910, when Charley Steen began producing pure cane syrup in Abbeville, Louisiana after salvaging a frozen sugar cane crop and boiling it down into syrup. That humble beginning grew into a recognizable brand whose bright yellow can became synonymous with Louisiana cane sweetness in households across the region.

The pecan pie recipe associated with Steen’s syrup appears on its label and is a traditional Louisiana recipe. The filling combines Steen’s pure cane syrup with butter, flour, cornstarch, sugar, eggs, pecans, and vanilla — poured into a pastry crust and baked into a nutty dessert.

Pecan pie as a recipe didn’t emerge fully formed — its earliest printed precursors show up in the late 19th century. A pecan-based pie was published in Harper’s Bazaar as early as 1886, and similar recipes appeared in Texas cookbooks in the 1870s and 1880s, but these earlier versions differed from the gooey, corn-syrup-sweetened pies we know today.

Pecan pie’s association with Thanksgiving and holiday tables took hold throughout the 20th century as its simple ingredients and Southern roots matched the seasonal harvest. Pecans ripen in the fall, aligning perfectly with Thanksgiving timing, which helped cement both pecans and their signature pie as part of autumn celebrations across the United States.

Today, pecan pie sits alongside pumpkin and apple as one of Thanksgiving’s classic desserts, where it symbolizes hospitality, abundance, and shared family meals.  

Unlike highly refined sweeteners like corn syrup, Steen’s Pure Cane Syrup is directly tied to sugar cane agriculture — a crop with deep roots in the American South. Growing cane domestically supports U.S. agricultural diversity, local economies in Louisiana and Florida, and culinary traditions built around products that can’t easily be replicated by imported or industrial sweeteners.

Moreover, cane syrup maintains a distinct flavor profile — richer and more complex than corn syrup — that gives pecan pies made with it a unique character. 

In regions like Louisiana, using traditional cane syrup connects the dessert not just to holiday tables but to a broader food heritage that includes cane-dripping biscuits, molasses-glazed vegetables, and cane-sweetened sauces.