Friday 24 November 2017

Honey Pie.



Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Would you like a slice?

Because let's be real, why wouldn't you want to eat something called Honey Pie?
Even though as Nigella said in the original recipe, this is more of a tart than an actual pie.
Pies usually have a pastry base and a pastry top. This one has only the base with the filling baked on top. The pastry is one of the easiest I've ever made. It's definitely one for you if you're a little nervous about making pastry from scratch. All you do is mix everything, press into the tin and freeze until solid. Done!

The filling is whisked up in one saucepan (yes to less washing up!) and poured over the frozen pastry base before being baked. You can use any honey you want as long as it's a good quality one. It's the star ingredient so let's be sure to use the best we can get our hands on. 
I love serving slices of the chilled pie with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, a drizzle of more honey and a dollop of tangy yoghurt to cut through all the sweetness. The honey filling isn't too strong in flavour but is mellow and bakes up into a creamy set texture that reminds me of both butterscotch and caramel at the same time. Now, why wouldn't you want a slice of that?!

A Simple List of Ingredients:

For the Base:
1. Plain Flour
2. Salt
3. Mild and Light Olive Oil
4. Whole Milk

For the Filling:
1. Unsalted Butter
2. Caster Sugar
3. Fine Polenta or Cornmeal
4. Sea Salt Flakes
5. Halal Vanilla Extract or Essence
6. Good Runny Honey
7. Eggs
8. Double Cream
9. Apple Cider Vinegar

To Serve:

1. Sea Salt Flakes
2. Honey
3. Yoghurt / Creme Fraiche / Clotted Cream

Bismillah, let's begin!


First, let's get the right tin out of the cupboard. You'll need a deep, loose-bottomed tart or flan tin measuring 9 inch (23cm) wide.

Next, to make one of the easiest pastry bases I've ever made, place 225g Plain Flour into a bowl.

Throw in 1/2 teaspoon Fine Salt.

Then, pour in 125ml Mild and Light Olive Oil. You want the cooking olive oil here and not the extra virgin stuff as it's too strong in flavour.

The olive oil replaces the butter in this quick pastry. No need to rub in cold butter and so much easier.

Finally, pour in 60ml Whole Milk.

By hand or with an electric mixer, mix the pastry until you have a well combined, slightly wet dough.

Scrape the dough into the tin. There's no rolling out with this pastry - we'll just press it in with our fingers.

With your fingers, press the pastry evenly over the base.

Then, push it up the sides of the tin too so we have a lovely edge to our honey pie.

Pastry bakes better when it's cold. So, pop the tin into the freezer for at least 1 hour. We will bake the base from frozen so no need to worry about it until it's needed.

When you're ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F. Put a large baking tray into the oven at the same time. For the filling, place 100g Unsalted Butter into a deep saucepan.

Melt the butter over a low heat.

Before letting the melted butter cool for 5 minutes.

Then, add in 150g Caster Sugar. That's something else I love about this recipe - the filling is all mixed up in this one pan. Less washing up for us!

Next, a little fine polenta or cornmeal to help thicken up the pie filling.

Add in 30g Fine Polenta or Cornmeal.

Next, sea salt flakes. It was my first time using this Maldon sea salt and I thought the filling would end up too salty but it baked up just fine.

Add in 1 or 2 teaspoons Sea Salt Flakes. I went with 2 because I love the whole sweet and salty flavour but you can certainly add less. If you have fine salt, I would add 1/2 teaspoon.

Time for the vanilla! This is a halal vanilla extract that I bought from here. I'm not the biggest fan of it as I feel it doesn't give a proper vanilla flavour to recipes. I much prefer this vanilla essence.

Whatever you choose to use, add in 1 teaspoon Halal Vanilla Extract or Essence.

Whisk everything up!

Then, pop the saucepan onto the scales.

Because it's time to add in the honey. Any good runny honey will do - I went with this Mexican orange blossom.

Pour in 175ml Good Runny Honey.

Even though this is a honey pie, the overall flavour isn't overwhelmingly that of honey. It's more of a butterscotch caramel one with a hint of the honey in the background. If you use a stronger honey, the honey taste will be more prominent.

Next, crack in 3 large Eggs.

Get things whisked up!

Before pouring in 150ml Double Cream.

And finally, adding in 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar.

Things look a little crazy ...

... but after a final whisk up, all looks good.

Let's assemble the pie. Take the pastry tin from the freezer - it should be frozen solid by now which is just what we want.

Grab the hot tray from the oven, put the tin on it and pour the filling over the pastry.

The filling will go all the way to top so carefully put the hot tray into the oven at Gas Mark 4 / 180C / 350F.

Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes, turning the tray round after 30 minutes. When the pie is done, it will be golden on top and set at the edges but with a slight jiggle in the middle.

Let the pie come up to room temperature before chilling it completely in the fridge.

Once chilled, remove it from the tin and ...

 ... pop it onto a cake stand.

Would you like a slice?

So good served with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, a drizzle of honey, and your choice of either clotted cream, creme fraiche and yoghurt. The perfect dessert for your next get-together.

Honey Pie.

Prep Time: About 45 minutes + 1 hour in the freezer.
Bake Time: About 45-50 minutes.
Serves: About 8 people.

Ingredients

For the Base
225g Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Fine Salt
125ml Mild and Light Olive Oil
60ml Whole Milk

For the Filling
100g Unsalted Butter
150g Caster Sugar
30g Fine Polenta or Cornmeal
1-2 teaspoons Sea Salt Flakes
1 teaspoon Halal Vanilla Extract or Essence
175ml Good Runny Honey
3 large Eggs
150ml Double Cream
2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar

To Serve
Sea Salt Flakes
Honey
Clotted Cream, Creme Fraiche or Yoghurt

Prepare and freeze the base:
Place the plain flour, salt, olive oil and milk into a bowl. Mix by hand or with an electric mixer until a well combined, slightly wet dough forms. Place the dough into a 9 inch (23cm) deep, loose-bottomed tart or flan tin. Use your fingers to press the dough into the base and up the sides of the tin. Freeze for at least 1 hour.

Get the oven on:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4 or 350F. Put a large baking tray into the oven at the same time.

Whisk up the filling:
Melt the butter in a large, deep saucepan. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in the caster sugar, polenta, sea salt and vanilla. Pour in the honey, eggs, double cream and vinegar. Whisk until well combined.

Bake:
Get the tart tin from the freezer and put onto the hot baking tray from the oven. Pour the honey mixture over the base. Bake for 45-50 minutes, turning the tray round after 30 minutes. When the pie is done, it will be golden on top and set at the edges but with a slight jiggle in the middle.

Chill and serve:
Let the pie cool to room temperature before chilling completely in the fridge. Remove from the tin, slice into wedges and serve with a sprinkle of sea salt, a drizzle of honey and a dollop of your chosen accompaniment.

{adapted from simply nigella}

Keep me in your duas please, and enjoy your honey pie!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!


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