I recently read online that the sugar concentration in honey is so high that no bacteria can live in it which is why it is often used as a natural antiseptic for wounds & cuts. Who knew? My paternal grandfather had always been a proponent of honey and the health benefits it had and told us to make sure we had a spoon of honey daily!
So when I found a tub of honey in my fridge last week I decided I must come up with a recipe to use it. Since I was too lazy to go to the grocery store and buy ingredients I decided to make something from ingredients already present in my pantry so I came up with Honey & Walnut Pie drizzled with Home-made Maple Cream sauce!
NOTE: You can substitute by buying a pre-made pie crust and maple syrup however in this part of the world such things are not readily available in the grocery store hence I improvise and make them at home!
Ingredients
SWEET PIE CRUST:
- 1 ¾ cups of flour
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 2 slightly beaten eggs
- ¾ stick of cold butter
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp of baking powder
HONEY & WALNUT FILLING:
- 1 cup walnuts
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup of white sugar
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1/4 cup oats
- 2 whisked eggs
- 4 tablespoons of butter
MAPLE CREAM SAUCE:
- ½ cup fat-free whipping cream
- 1/2 cup white sugar1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 tbp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
METHOD:
SWEET PIE CRUST
- Mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder & salt)
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the dry mixture until it is fully incorporated and the mixture resembles crumbs.
- Add the slightly beaten egg to the mixture and knead until it forms a dough
- Cover the dough and place in the fridge for at least 30 – 45 minutes before using it
- When you are ready to make the pie take out the dough and sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and work the dough until it becomes smooth and roll it into a flat disk
- Spread the dough out into a pie tin pressing it along the sides to make sure its firm
HONEY & WALNUT FILLING:
- Combine the honey, white and brown sugar in a heavy bottom saucepan
- Heat mixture on low heat without stirring until it comes to a boil
- Remove from heat once it starts to boil and add the butter
- Stir mixture until it has a smooth consistency and add the whisked eggs
- Whisk the mixture until eggs & and the syrup have combined – don’t overmix it!
- Let the filling cool a bit and then add in chopped walnuts and oats to the mixture
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust and pop into the pre-heated oven and bake for 45-1 hours at 350F/175C
- Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some home-made maple cream
MAPLE CREAM SAUCE:
- Place white sugar in a heavy base saucepan on low heat until the sugar melts and turns brown – make sure it doesn’t burn
- Simultaneously place brown sugar into a separate heavy base saucepan. Pour boiling water over brown sugar and bring to a boil without stirring
- Add caramelized white sugar to the melted brown sugar in the saucepan. Simmer, stirring often, until the maple syrup thickened (around 5-10 mins)
- Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla essence (This yields 1 cup maple syrup which can be stored for later use with pancakes etc)
- Pour whipping cream into a saucepan and add ¼ cup of the prepared maple syrup and stir over moderate heat until thickened and reduced by half then remove from heat
- Refrigerate maple cream until it is cold and pour over the warm Honey & Walnut Pie when you are ready to serve!
~ F
Leave a Reply