Salted Honey Pie

If you go to New York and don’t get pie from Four & Twenty Blackbirds, then did you even go to New York? In my opinion, you did not!

Visiting their shop in Brooklyn is one of my favourite food memories from my trip to New York two years ago. It was my second time being in the city, which just made me mad that I hadn’t discovered their pie sooner.   

Although they make an array of different mouth-watering flavours from Matcha Custard to Salted Caramel Apple; their Salty Honey Pie was the only one I truly had eyes for. Having drooled all over their pies on Instagram in the months leading up to my trip, it did not let me down. The piecrust was crisp and flaky and the filling smooth, sweet and salty - just the best combination.

This year, as autumn rolled around and my Insta feed filled with endless drool-worthy pies once again, I decided to attempt my own version... and (four pies later) I like it!

The idea of making pie has always overwhelmed me slightly. The key here is to keep the dough as cold as possible when bringing all of the ingredients together. Chilling the dough before rolling makes it really easy when lining your pie dish and crimping those edges. When baking, if you find the edges are getting a little too dark, you can cover the pie with foil towards the end of the bake. 

Enjoy!

What you need:

For the pie crust (makes one for now and one for later):
350g plain flour
1tsp salt
1tbsp caster sugar (heaped)
250 unsalted butter (cubed)
125ml water
2tbsp white wine vinegar
1 handful of ice cubes

For the salted honey filling:
125g unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
185g caster sugar
1tbsp conrflour
1tsp salt
200g runny honey
4 medium eggs
125ml double cream
2tsp white wine vinegar

What you need to do:

For the piecrust:

1. Combine the flour, salt and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. Remove the butter from the fridge and cut into cubes, then add half the butter to the dry mix, coating the butter with the flour. Rub the butter between your fingers, combining with the flour until you have find breadcrumbs
2. Place the ice cubes into a small jug, then add the water and vinegar - pour half the water (holding back the ice cubes) into the mixing bowl and combine with your hands
3. Add the remaining butter and begin to flatten the cubes slightly with your hands as you mix it into the flour. Finally, add the remaining water and bring the dough together - pour out onto a lightly floured work surface and lightly knead until you have smooth dough.
4. Half the dough, then roll each half into a ball and flatten slightly - wrap one in cling film and chill in the freezer for 30mins, and place the other piece in the fridge - you can store this for up to a month
5. Once the dough has chilled in the freezer, you can prepare your pie shell using a 9” pie pan. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until large enough to fill the pie dish (with overhang). Roll the dough over your rolling pin, and then unroll over your pie dish
6. Trim the edges slightly until you have around 1cm of extra dough - then fold the overhang underneath, creating a ‘wall’ of dough around the rim
7. Crimp the dough by pushing the dough inside the pie with your index finger, then squeezing with your thumb and index finger outside the pie to create little crmips, all the way around
8. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork, and then brush with egg white - save the egg yolk for the crust later. Place in the freezer to chill for at least an hour (or overnight if possible)
9. When the pie shell has sufficiently chilled, start to prep your filling...

For the salted honey filling:

1. Melt your butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and leave to cool almost completely. When the butter has cooled, pre heat your oven to 190°, then combine the caster sugar, cornflour and salt in a separate bowl
2. Whisk in the melted, cooled butter, then add the honey and then the eggs one by one and whisk together. Slowly add the cream, then the vinegar, and whisk together to combine completely
3. Remove your piecrust from the freezer and place on a baking tray, before straining the filling through a sieve and into the crust
4. Bake for around 50 minutes - 1 hour, rotating the pie half way through for an even bake
5. Around 15 minutes towards the end of the bake, remove the pie from the oven and lightly brush with the egg yolk (you saved earlier) mixed with a little bit of cream or milk - then place back into the oven to finish baking
6. Once the pie has baked (it should still feel a bit wobbly in the centre) - remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin completely for a couple of hours before sprinkling with a little extra salt, slicing and enjoying!