Hope McCarthyComment

Maple Cream Pie with Walnut Crust

Hope McCarthyComment
Maple Cream Pie with Walnut Crust

WALNUT CRUST INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup unsalted walnuts

  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

  • 1 tsp kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed

  • 4-6 Tbsp ice water

FILLING INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/4 cups pure maple syrup (make sure to find a high quality syrup. When I used a cheap syrup it didn’t reduce properly and the filling didn’t set as firmly)

  • 6 large egg yolks

  • 1/4 cup corn starch

  • 2 cups whole milk

  • 1 cup heavy cream

  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

 

CRUST INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a large food processor, finely grind walnuts and sugar together.

  2. Add the flour and salt and pulse until combined.

  3. Add butter and pulse until it forms a coarse meal.

  4. Add 4 Tbsp ice water and pulse until the dough starts to clump. The dough should come together when pinched. Add more water a Tbsp at a time if the dough is too dry.

  5. Dump dough out onto a cool flat surface and form into a disk. Don’t over work with your hands or the butter will melt.

  6. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

  7. Grease a 9 inch pie dish with non-stick spray.

  8. Flour a flat cool surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle flour on the top of the dough.

  9. Roll dough out into a 12 inch round. Turn the dough 90 degrees after each pass with the rolling pin. Go slow and press lightly to ensure the dough is an even thickness and relatively round.

  10. Roll dough around the rolling pin to transfer to the pan. Lay dough over pan and then press into the bottom and sides.

  11. Cut off excess dough with scissors leaving a 1/2 inch lip. Fold lip under to make a thick edge. Pinch dough around thumb to create a decorative edge.

  12. Freeze dough for 15 minutes.

  13. Preheat oven to 375 degrees while dough chills.

  14. Crinkle up a large piece of parchment paper. Unfold the paper and place over the pie crust. Fill pie pan with beans to weigh down the crust while blind baking.

  15. Bake for 25 minutes, until the bottom of the crust is dry to the touch.

  16. Remove from oven and remove parchment paper and beans. Using a fork, poke holes across the bottom of the crust.

  17. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

  18. Remove from oven. If the crust has puffed up at all, weigh down with beans again for 1-2 minutes.

  19. Let crust cool over a wire rack.

FILLING INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Bring maple syrup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer syrup until reduced by 1/2. About 15 minutes. You can check in a heat safe measuring cup.

  2. While maple syrup simmers, whisk together eggs and cornstarch in a large sauce pan.

  3. Whisk in cream and milk until combined.

  4. Heat the milk over medium heat. Whisk in melted butter, salt and maple syrup.

  5. Continuously whisk until custard comes to low boil and thickens to the consistency of pudding. About 7 minutes.

  6. Pour custard through a fine mesh sieve into the pie crust.

  7. Cover the custard with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is flush with the custard.

  8. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

  9. Top with whipped cream before serving. You can also sprinkle the top with candied or toasted walnuts.

I highly recommend watching a pie crust tutorial on youtube before you start. It helped me plenty!