I’ve had my eye on this pie for a long time, but when it comes to honey, I never know what to buy; the options in the honey aisle are seemingly endless. Luckily, my Tower Grove Farmers Market stall is directly opposite Robins Apiaries. Week after week, I watched people buy bottles of Robins’ honey immediately after sampling it. So after 22 weeks, I finally bought a bottle. Upon tasting the delicious local honey, I knew immediately how I wanted to use it. Enter: the most glorious salty honey pie.
The piecrust is flaky while the sweet honey filling, with a crackly, crunchy top, is met with a healthy dose of sea salt. I shared it with friends who said it reminded them of a pecan pie.
You can make your own pie crust or purchase a frozen version. I highly recommend making your own since it’s so easy to store in the freezer for future use. You also have the option of either making a flaky all-butter crust or an oil crust, which yields a crunchier texture. I chose the all-butter crust for this particular pie. I also recommend experimenting with some walnuts or pistachios. I can’t help but wonder how this would taste with a nutty crust or nuts tossed into the filling. But as is, this salty honey pie is soon to be a classic on many Thanksgiving tables.
Salty Honey Pie
Adapted from Melissa and Emily Elsen of Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Makes 1 9-inch pie
½ cup sugar
¾ stick butter
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup honey
½ cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ Tbsp. sea salt
Salty Honey Pie Crust (recipe follows)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt the sugar, butter and salt in a saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the next five ingredients (through vanilla).
• Pour the filling into the pie crust (recipe follows), and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the center is just slightly jiggly. Let cool at least 1 hour.
• Sprinkle the sea salt over the top of the pie just before serving.
• Serve chilled with an outline of whipped cream rimming the edges.
Salty Honey Pie Crust
Makes enough for 2 9-inch pie crusts, or 1 double-crusted pie
2½ cups flour
½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 sticks cold butter, cubed
¾ cup ice water
• Whisk all of the ingredients together except the ice water. Use a pastry blender to mix the butter cubes into the mixture until they are the size of small peas.
• Add in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. You should still be able to see little pieces of butter in the dough (That’s what makes it flaky.). Once the dough is cohesive, knead it together and then divide it in half, forming each half into a ball and then flattening them into discs, about ½-inch thick. Wrap both discs in plastic wrap and store 1 in the fridge until hard, at least 1 hour, and the other in the freezer for up to 1 month. (If you are making the crusts far in advance, you can store both halves in the freezer until you’re ready to use them.)
• Once chilled, remove the disc from the refrigerator and roll out into a circle about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Arrange it in a 9-inch pie plate and trim any overhang. Place the pie plate in the freezer for 30 minutes, or until the crust hardens.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Press aluminum foil tightly to the surface of the crust, and bake (without pie weights) for 20 minutes.
• Remove the crust from the oven, and use the back of a spoon to push down any parts that may have risen during baking.
• Let the crust cool completely before filling.
Covered, this pie can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
This article appears in October 2012.
