Salted Honey Pie

No pictures available so far. Will work on it!

Found on Nigella guest recipes page, but really authored by Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen. Seemed exciting (we have gone crazy over salted caramel lately) so i agreed to have a go.  My prototype was not ship-shape enough for my liking, but the testers had no problem enjoying it. I will document all noted teething problems, but will also allow for more trials in the future, possibly eliminating the mishaps i recognise today.

“..Very important notice: In anticipation of making the pie, please make the crust first, crimp and freeze so that the crust is fully ready to be used according to the first step of the recipe…”

The interesting flavour here is that you need to have a proper baking form (tart one is really too shallow) so it needs to be silicone or metal. My favourite, glass, is out as the glass does not take well to drastic temperature changes.  Following our recipe you will heat up the oven, and then place a frozen (or nearly so) pie shell on hot!! hot! oven rack.. Risky! On the other hand, the silicone one is soft, difficult to handle when full of liquid stuff.. So, for me, metal it is.

Poland has all sorts of forms, by the traditional North American pie is not a shape commonly known here.. Interesting..

My prototype pie was made with the 10 inch (25 cm dia) tart for, as i had nothing better at hand. The result came out a but shallow, but.. there may be other reasons for it as well (see below, the baking chapter)

Ingredients meant for 1 x 9-inch pie:

  • Adequate size All-Butter Pie Crust, crimped and frozen
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (110g, melted)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150g). Also, i used some brown sugar instead,as i run out of the regular stuff)
  • 1 tbsp white cornmeal
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste (Nielsen-Massey makes a readily available one; difficult and very expensive in Poland, i used and excellent vanilla extract instead)
  • 3/4 cup honey (i used 150g)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup heavy cream (240-240 ml)
  • 2 tsp white vinegar
  • 1 – 2 tsp soft sea salt flakes (for finishing)

Prepare the filling:

  1. Consider starting the oven and bringing out the frozen shell to be handy. Preparing the filling is indeed quick.
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter, sugar, cornmeal, salt, and vanilla paste.
  3. Stir in the honey and the eggs one at a time, followed by the heavy cream and vinegar.

Bake

  1. Have ready and frozen one pastry-lined 9-inch pie pan, crimped.
  2. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F (190C).
  3. Place the frozen pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
  4. Strain the filling through a fine-mesh sieve directly into the pie shell, or strain it into a separate bowl and then pour it into the shell. I forgot to do this when creating my prototype. I guess this may have caused some problems later on – the filling ballooned uncontrollably, I had to pierce the holes in it in panic.. may not matter much, but i will not skip this step next time. I suspect the egg whiles were not completely broken into the mixture, possibly damaging  some air travel capability? we will see.
  5. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating 180 degrees when the edges start to set, 30 to 35 minutes through baking. I lost track of the changes to the filling (ballooning took me off track completely) and i bakes my pie for good 60-65 minutes, probably too long.
  6. The pie is finished when the edges are set and puffed up high and the center is no longer liquid but looks set like gelatin and is golden brown on top.
  7. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack, 2 to 3 hours.
  8. Sprinkle with flake sea salt.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
The pie will keep refrigerated for 4 days or at room temperature for 2 days.

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