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Saturday, March 14, 2015

Salted Honey Pie for Pi(e) Day!

Salted Honey Pie
I've always been a pie kind of girl. When asked the question "pie or cake?"—I choose pie every time. But I've talked about this before, so I won't bore  you if you've already read about my lifetime love of pie. With me making such a strong declaration over and over, you'd think I'd have more pie recipes on my blog. I'm going to work on that.

My goal is to share at least one pie recipe per month for the rest of the year, and what better day to start than National Pi(e) Day? This year, pi day happens to be incredibly special in the coolest, nerdiest of ways (if you don't know why, scroll down the last part of this post to find out).  I think warm pie with a scoop of ice cream and a mug of coffee is definitely something that should be enjoyed on a monthly basis.

I'd give anything to have an old theater in town that showed old Kung Fu movies. Then I could watch one (seriously, Kung Fu movies are another favorite of mine) and go get pie and talk about it afterwards. I'm like Alabama that way.

I know I'm blathering today. I apologize, my head is sort of everywhere. So let's just talk about this lovely salted honey pie that I'm sharing with you today. I often mention that I'll have a recipe in the "make soon" pile for years before I get around to actually making them. This particular one has only been there for about 4 months or so. I planned on making this as one of our Thanksgiving pies...until I didn't.
Salted Honey Pie
I'm actually glad I waited because the texture of the pie reminds of pecan pie...minus the nuts. Jiggly, if you will. And there is always pecan pie at Thanksgiving. I love the beautiful yellow hue lent to the filling from cornmeal and eggs, as well as the honey. It actually puffs in the oven like a marshmallow over a flame, and then settles as it cools. The result is a thin "skin" with a pleasant bit of chew to it—substantial enough to support the layer of salt perched atop it.

Although fruit pies are my preference, with nutty pies coming in a close second, I love having "extras" like this salted honey pie in my arsenal. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Salted Honey Pie
Lovers of sweet and salty will adore a slice of this rich honey pie, covered in sea salt.
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Salted Honey Pie
by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55-60 minutes
Keywords: bake dessert vegetarian soy-free nut-free honey salt pie

Ingredients (serves 8-10)
  • 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust of your choosing, homemade or storebought
for the filling:
  • 4 ounces (1/2 cup / 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3/4 cup runny honey
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon coarse or flake sea salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° F. Roll out your pie dough so that it fits a 9-inch pie tin. Set it into the pie tin and crimp the edges in any manner that you like, and poke the bottom all over with a fork. Slide into preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. (Or if you have different instructions for your own favorite pie crust, follow those to parbake it, then set aside to cool.)

Reduce oven temperature to 350° F (or preheat if the oven has been turned off); set the cooled pie shell onto a baking sheet.

Combine melted butter with sugar, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in honey, vinegar, and vanilla bean seeds. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the heavy cream.

Pour the filling into the parbaked pie crust, then slide into preheated oven and cook for 55-60 minutes, covering the crust with a shield if it starts getting too dark. Filling will puff up, the the center should still be a bit jiggly.

Set pie on a wire rack to cool for at least one hour, then scatter the sea salt over the top. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Salted Honey Pie

National Pi(e) Day 2015
Welcome to Pi(e) Day hosted by Terri from Love and Confections! Pi Day is celebrated every March 14 by math fans around the world - and also bakers and pastry chefs. Pi is an non-repeating, infinite number represented by the Greek letter π, and used to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

Today, March 14, 2015, is an extra special Pi Day, because at 9:26:53 AM it creates the "Pi Moment of the Century". The first ten digits of Pi are 3.141592653 (3/14/15, 9:26 AM and 53 seconds). This exact date and time happens once every hundred years - a once in a lifetime moment for most of us. SWEET!

Today, 21 Food Bloggers have gathered and want to celebrate the fun of Pi by creating their own sweet and savory pies to share with you.

Enjoy a slice from the Pi(e) Day Bloggers:

And because one can never have too much pie, find more pie recipes and inspiration with me on Pinterest!
Follow Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez's board Pies, Tarts, Crisps, Crumbles... on Pinterest.


Now, tell me—what's your answer: PIE OR CAKE?