Salt 'n' caramel, salt 'n' chocolate, buttered popcorn ice cream with bacon and pecans (believe!). Salted sweets are so in right now. I've fallen in to the fad too because you know what, it's delicious (I'm making salted caramels for Christmas gifts--spoiler alert!!). I saw this recipe on the South Brooklyn Post from the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shop in Gowanus, and thought it sounded like a different (yet familiar, see maple pie, and sugar pie) yummy take on the sweet 'n' salt. Oh boy, it was. Here's my version...
Salty Honey Pie
adapted from Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe
1/2 c. melted butter
3/4 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp white or yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 c. honey
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla paste (I used extract, but I'm sure paste would be great)
1 or 2 Tblsp flake sea salt for finishing (pink salt looks quite nice!)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Prepare pie crust as per the Nothing-in-the-House recipe (The original recipe calls for you to blind-bake the crust, but I found it relatively unnecessary since the baking time was long enough). Mix melted butter, sugar, salt, and cornmeal to form a thick paste. Add honey, vanilla, and vinegar, then beaten eggs and cream. Blend well by hand or with an electric mixer. Roll out crust and fit into a greased and floured pie dish. Pour filling into pie shell and flute crust. Bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes or until fillings is puffed and only slightly wobbly in the middle. Cool for one hour. Top with a center dollop of maple-bourbon whipped cream and sprinkle with flake sea salt. Serve with more whipped cream if desired.
pre-baking, featuring leaf-design crust in full glory (it later fell)
I tried out one of four leaf design crust cutters I got at a local church sale--it looked very nice before baking, but in the oven it fell a bit or got covered by the puff of the filling.
post-baking, with lead-design detail (the part that didn't fall)
Gotta say, this pie is sooo goood. The top of the filling gets a bit crusty, while underneath it is smooth and oozing, quite like a creme brûlée. The small amount of cornmeal gives it a little grit, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not overly sweet.
honey pie- you are making me crazy!
Don't forget to sprinkle sea salt flakes on top-- I used Himalayan pink and white, which looked quite nice. I wish I had gotten a shot of it with salt and whipped cream and in slice cross-section form, but I took it to a music party/potluck with some new friends and strangers and didn't want to be *that* girl taking a picture of her own dessert. But I'll post one eventually, because I will most definitely be making this again.
5 comments:
adapted from Four & Twenty Blackbirds
yes, as indicated above. they're great!
e-mail from a reader:
"Hey there,
I came across your site looking for pie in Carrboro and subsequently decided to make the salt honey pie because it looked so neat in the photo before it was baked, and because the recipe sounded like something I'd never had before. The result was delicious, sort of a custard-baklava hybrid that was quickly gobbled up.
Reading a little bit more, I realized we might have taken Southern Music together with Prof. Ferris. The internet can lead to strange coincidences.
Well, love "Nothing-in-the-House," and thanks for sharing your recipes, A"
whoa! i made the same pie last november. it was a HUGE hit in the office and for thanksgiving. great pie-minds think alike. maybe you should make wee little salty honey pie-lets for food swap...?
http://witchinkitchen.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/honey-pie/
great minds, indeed!!! wee salty honey pies would be the cutest.
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