Salted Honey Pie

I've been obsessing over this pie for what feels like ages.  It has been in a desktop folder before I even knew what a Pinterest board was...you know, the dark ages.

Anytime a recipe crosses my path with the word "Honey" in it, I immediately take pause.  It isn't too often that honey is a prominent ingredient, prominent enough that you can distinguish its flavor.  And this pie isn't messing around when it comes to the honey.

We're not talking just a couple tablespoons here, but a full 3/4 cup!  So I hope you have plenty of honey on hand.  This pie is really very simple, but you may find the only ingredient you don't have is white cornmeal, perhaps the vanilla paste too.  At least go gather the cornmeal, you can find it at any grocer (I assume) more easily than vanilla paste, then make this goodness and put it in your mouth!  Because this pie is the Bee's Knees!

Pun fully intended.

Salted Honey Pie
adapted from Four & Twenty Blackbirds
makes 1, 9 inch pie

Pie Crust
-Your own recipe or a pre-made shell (chilled)

Filling
-1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
-3/4 c. granulated sugar
-2 Tbsp. white cornmeal
-1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
-3/4 c. honey
-2 tsp. white vinegar
-1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
-3 eggs
-1/2 c. heavy cream

-course sea salt for sprinkling finished pie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Move rack to the bottom portion of the oven.

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, salt, and cornmeal by hand or hand mixer until it is a thick, paste like consistency.  Mix in the honey, vanilla, and vinegar until combined.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk up the three eggs.  Add the eggs and heavy cream to your honey filling.  Fold until all the ingredients are incorporated.  Pour into your chilled 9"pie shell.  Line your pie crust with aluminum foil or your special pie shields.

Bake on lower rack for 40 minutes.  Move to middle rack and remove pie shields from crust.  Bake an additional 20 minutes.  The filling will really, really puff up and will be slightly wobbly in the middle when you go to remove it.

Let cool for at least an hour to set, and sprinkle with your desired amount of course sea salt.  The salt helps offset the sweetness of the pie slightly.

Cut and serve with whipped cream.  Make it yourself if you can! You won't regret this decision!

Okay, I straight up admit I used a pre-made crust.  Courtesy of Mrs. Smith if you must know.  Judge me if you will, but I'll say this:

image source

Make a crust from scratch and you'll reduce people to tears.  Tears from a salty, sweet, creamy heaven.  Because this pie is already amazing.  The filling forms this über thin crispy layer that tastes like the perfectly burnt part of a marshmallow.  The inside is almost like a caramel, with a slight hint of texture and flavor from the cornmeal, but of course amazingly HONEY.

AND the whipped cream balances out the sweetness that may be overwhelming if you gobble up a whole slice like I did.  I'm a honey badger.  I don't care!