Candy Cap Salted Maple Pie
Salted maple pie, but with a very wild twist. Candy cap mushrooms bring an earthy maple aroma to this buttery, gooey dessert.
Servings: 8 servings
Equipment
- 9-inch pie pan
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
Pie crust
- 1 ¼ cups (150 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (½ cup) unsalted butter cold, diced
- ~½ cup ice cold water
Filling
- 6 ounces (12 Tbsp/ 1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
- 8-10 dried candy cap mushrooms (1 gram)
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup candy cap sugar or additional brown sugar
- ¼ cup fine cornmeal
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs room temperature*
- ¾ cup heavy cream room temperature*
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- flaky sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Make pie dough: Whisk 1 ¼ cups flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, and ¼ tsp salt together in a large bowl. Blend in 4 oz cold diced butter, using your fingers to rub it into the flour until you have pea-sized crumbs. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add cold water, starting with about ¼ cup. Blend water in gradually, using a fork or wooden spoon, adding additional water a tablespoon or so at a time. Mix until the dough just comes together in a shaggy mass. Knead it together lightly with your hands, form it into a rough disc, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Prep the crust: On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pie dough into a rough circle, about 12 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick. Gently lift it into a pie dish. Leave about 1 inch of pie dough hanging over the edges, cutting away any excess. Fold and crimp the edges as desired. Place in the freezer and chill for at least 15 minutes. While it's chilling, preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C).
- Blind bake: Line the chilled pie dough with parchment paper or foil, then fill to the top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bottom is mostly baked and crust is lightly golden.Allow to cool a few minutes, then remove the weights and parchment.
- Make filling: While crust is blind baking, prepare the filling. Melt 6 oz butter with 8-10 candy cap mushrooms and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes, keeping slightly warm. Strain the butter into a large mixing bowl, discarding mushrooms. Whisk in 1 cup maple syrup. Add ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup candy cap sugar, ¼ cup cornmeal, and ½ tsp salt; whisk well. In a separate bowl, beat together ¾ cup heavy cream, 3 eggs, and 2 tsp vanilla. Slowly pour cream mixture into butter mixture in a gradual steam while whisking until well combined**.
- Bake: Turn oven down to 350° F. Pour filling into blind baked pie shell and bake until the filling is puffed, brown, and crackly, and the crust is deeply golden, about 55-70 minutes. The middle of the pie should have just the slightest jiggle left to it when you shake it gently.
- Enjoy: Allow pie to cool for 2-4 hours at room temperature, then sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt and serve. It's excellent with ice cream or whipped cream!
Notes
*Temperature of the eggs & heavy cream is very important! If they’re cold when you mix them with the other ingredients (which are warm from the melted butter), it may cause the mixture to separate. I recommend you take these ingredients out of the fridge as soon as you start making the pie dough.
**Whisking the egg mixture slowly into the butter-maple mixture will help ensure you have a smooth custard that doesn’t separate.