Salty Honey Pie

The only thing I achieved today was pie... I'm okay with that.



Disclaimer: Moco Honey supplied me with some of their honey to try.


Salty Honey Pie
slightly adapted from Emily and Melissa Elsen's The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

For the Pastry:
170g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons caster sugar
115g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup ice-water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

For the Filling:
115g unsalted butter, melted
160g caster sugar
1 tablespoon polenta (yellow cornmeal)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup honey (Use a really good honey)
3 eggs
125ml cream
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt flakes

Make the Pastry:
Put the flour, salt and sugar into a food processor and blitz briefly to mix. Add the butter and whiz quickly until you have a rubble of larger and smaller pieces of butter in the mix. It's best not to over process.

In a small jug, mix the water and vinegar together. Add half to the butter and flour rubble, blitz again. Pulse the processor while adding enough of the rest of the water-vinegar mixture to bring it together into a soft dough. Try not to over process. Form the pastry into ball, pat it out to a flat disc and wrap it in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pastry out to about a 26cm round. Line the base and sides of a 23cm pie dish with the pastry. Tuck the excess pastry under and crimp the edges with your finger or the tines of a fork. Pop the pastry-lined pie dish into a freezer bag, seal and freeze overnight.

Make the Pie:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Take the frozen pie crust out of the freezer, unwrap it and place it on a rimmed baking tray.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter, caster sugar, polenta (cornmeal), salt and vanilla paste. Stir in the honey and add the eggs, one at a time. Then stir in the cream and vinegar.

Pour the filling through a fine-mesh sieve into the pastry case. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes, rotating the dish halfway through the cooking time. The pie is cooked when the filling is puffed and golden and the centre is just slightly wobbly. Place the pie dish on a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.