I can’t claim the recipe for this salted maple pie as my own, but I love it so much that it feels like my child. This pie, straight from a brand-spanking new book called “Sister Pie” is a winning treat that your falls need. Trust me.
Something I’ve been learning about over the last five or so years of my life is how to celebrate others. There was a period of time in my life where my own insecurity prevented me from whole-heartedly cheering on the people around me. I guess I thought that if someone else was successful, hitting milestones faster than me, or achieving things I wanted in my own life it would somehow diminish my own gifts and the good things in my life. Like someone else’s advancement meant I was stuck behind. Obviously that type of mentality was gross and damaging for a number of reasons, but I think the thing I missed out on most was the opportunity to share in the joy of someone else’s successes.
One of my favorite things about life in a small town is how friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers can come to feel like family. In the confines of a tiny city, it’s easy to recognize how closely your life is knitted to the people around you and wanting the best for them becomes an absolute no brainer. Their struggles become your struggles, their joys become your joys, and the triumphs and blessings in their lives will eventually trickle down to affect yours in a positive way too.
When one person succeeds in a small town, everyone eventually shares in that reward, and I’ve found that taking part in their stories, investing passion and love into the things that are important to them, almost always feels like a shared victory in the end. This way of living, this crazy love and support for the people around you, is is one of the most heart-filling things I’ve ever experienced in my life, and if you’ve felt it too, I bet you’d agree.
Sister Pie
This notion of sharing with and loving your community is all over the “Sister Pie” cookbook. Reading the book, you’ll know that these gals are all about taking care of the people (and bellies) around them. The stories are great, but the recipes are crazy good, so much so that I knew I had to share one with you. The salted maple pie was my first bake from the book, and I have a feeling it’s one I’ll be making for years to come.
Salted Maple Pie
With it’s rich, almost chess pie-like filling, equals parts sweet from maple syrup and salty from finishing salt, this salted maple pie satisfies my dessert cravings on so many levels. There’s the buttery crust, the gooey (think Crack Pie from Milkbar) filling, and those perfect crunches of salt. I shared this pie with a group at our church and I literally had someone come up to hug me because it was so good. If you think food can’t bless the pants off of someone, think again.
Making the Pie
To make it, we start with Sister Pie’s crust. Their classic all-butter pie dough utilizes European style butter which has a higher fat percentage and less water. This means more flake and more flavor in your pie. The crust blind-bakes until set and starting to turn golden. In the meanwhile you can prep your filling. Just like with my favorite chocolate chess pie, this pie gets whipped up in a single bowl. Eggs, butter, maple syrup, cream, and a few other ingredients are stirred together until the crust is finished. Pour the filling in and complete the baking process until the filling it barely puffed and only jiggles a little. Allow the pie to cool on the counter, about 4 hours, until set. Finish with a sprinkle (or two) of salt.
This salted maple pie is like a gooey autumnal hug. The flavors are cozy and complex, an extremely satisfying ending to any meal. I hope you’ll give it a try and check out the new “Sister Pie” cookbook! There’s loads of inspiration, both sweet and savory, within its pages; I think it’s one you’ll reach for for years to come. Happy reading, happy baking, and happy Wednesday!
If you like this salted maple pie you should check out:
Maple Apple Cake
Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust and Butterscotch
Mocha Hazelnut Cream Pie
Strawberry Pretzel Tart
Cookie Butter Pretzel Mousse
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Salted Maple Pie
From the author:
The Salted Maple Pie is our signature flavor at Sister Pie because it is an homage to the bakeries where I got my professional chops: Momofuku Milk Bar in Manhattan and Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn. It is reminiscent of the addictive quality of both Milk Bar’s Crack Pie and Four & Twenty’s Salty Honey Pie. We created our own version of a classic chess filling with robust Grade B maple syrup from Imlay City, Michigan and highlighted with local heavy cream, eggs, stone-ground yellow cornmeal, and light brown sugar. On Saturdays at the shop, we’ll buy applewood-smoked bacon from the market to crisp up in the oven right before opening. It’s a match made in pancake breakfast heaven.
- Author: Kate Wood
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 9
- Category: Dessert
- 1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1⁄4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup Grade B maple syrup
- 3⁄4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1⁄4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
- Heaping 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 3⁄4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1–1⁄4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- One 9-inch crust made with All-Butter Pie Dough, blind baked and cooled (see below)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling top
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and maple syrup. Whisk in the brown sugar, cornmeal, and kosher salt.
- Crack the eggs and yolk into another medium bowl. Add the cream and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Slowly pour the egg mixture into the maple mixture and whisk just until combined.
- Place the blind-baked shell on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the crimped edge with the beaten egg. Pour the maple filling into the pie shell until it reaches the bottom of the crimps.
- Transfer the baking sheet with the pie on it to the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the edges are puffed and the center jiggles only slightly when shaken. It will continue to set as it cools.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool for 4 to 6 hours. Once fully cooled and at room temperature, sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt, slice into 6 to 8 pieces, and serve.
- Store leftover pie, well wrapped in plastic wrap or under a pie dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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All-Butter Pie Dough
From the author:
This is our go-to dough, and it’s how each pie begins. Every pie baker, professional or at home, seems to have an opinion on the best combination of fats for the flakiest crust—is it lard, shortening, butter, or a mix? Our basic dough is a pure and simple ode to unsalted butter and all-purpose flour—we think it produces the best-tasting, lightest, flakiest pie crust.
- Author: Kate
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1
- Category: Dessert
- 2–1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted European-style butter, straight from the fridge
- 1⁄2 cup ice-cold water-vinegar mixture (see below), or more if needed
In a large stainless steel bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and stir to mix well. Place the sticks of butter in the bowl and coat on all sides with the flour mixture. Using a bench scraper, cut the butter into 1⁄2-inch cubes. Work quickly to separate the cubes with your hands until they are all lightly coated in flour. Grab that bench scraper once again and cut each cube in half. I always tell my pie dough students that it’s unnecessary to actually cut each cube perfectly in half, but it’s a good idea to break up the butter enough so that you can be super-efficient when it’s pastry blender time.
It’s pastry blender time! Switch to the pastry blender and begin to cut in the butter with one hand while turning the bowl with the other. It’s important not to aim for the same spot at the bottom of the bowl with each stroke of the pastry blender, but to actually slice through butter every time to maximize efficiency. When the pastry blender clogs up, carefully clean it out with your fingers (watch out, it bites!) or a butter knife and use your hands to toss the ingredients a bit. Continue to blend and turn until the largest pieces are the size and shape of peas and the rest of the mixture feels and looks freakishly similar to canned Parmesan cheese.
At this point, add the water-vinegar mixture all at once, and switch back to the bench scraper. Scrape as much of the mixture as you can from one side of the bowl to the other, until you can’t see visible pools of liquid anymore. Now it’s hand time. Scoop up as much of the mixture as you can, and use the tips of your fingers (and a whole lot of pressure) to press it back down onto the rest of the ingredients. Rotate the bowl a quarter-turn and repeat. Scoop, press, and turn. With each fold, your intention is to be quickly forming the mixture into one cohesive mass. Remember
to incorporate any dry, floury bits that have congregated at the bottom of the bowl, and once those are completely gone and the dough is formed, it’s time to stop.
Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on a lightly floured counter, and use your bench scraper to divide it into two equal pieces. Gently pat each into a 2-inch-thick disc, working quickly to seal any broken edges before wrapping them tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap. If you’re portioning for a lattice-topped pie, shape one half into a 2-inch-thick disc and the other half into a 6 by 3-inch rectangle. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or, ideally, overnight. When you go to roll out the crust, you want the discs to feel as hard and cold as the butter did when you removed it from the fridge to make the dough. This will make the roll-out way easier.
You can keep the pie dough in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for up to 1 year. If frozen, remove the dough and place it in the refrigerator to thaw one full day before you intend to use it. If you’re planning to make only one single-crust pie, wrap the discs separately and place one in the freezer.
To Blind-Bake:
- Preheat your oven to 450°F with the rack on the lowest level. Remove the pie crust from the freezer, tear off a square of aluminum foil that is slightly larger than the pie shell, and gently fit it into the frozen crust. Fill the crust with the dried beans (they should come all the way up to the crimps) and place the pie pan on a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 25 to 27 minutes. Check for doneness by peeling up a piece of foil—the crimps should be light golden brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After 6 minutes, carefully remove the foil and beans. You did it! You are now ready to fill the pie.
Notes
For the water/vinegar mixture, fill a 1-cup liquid measuring cup about halfway with ice, then add water and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar.
