Salty Honey Apple Pie

As the winter season is well and truly in full swing, heat up with a tasty salty honey pie by British food blogger Aimee Twigger of Twigg Studios.

What you will need for the pastry:

• 1¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1½ tsp. granulated sugar
• 6 sage leaves
• 1/4 lb (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1/2 c. ice water
• 2 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1/2 c. ice

How to prepare the pastry:

1. Stir the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter pieces and coat with the flour mixture using a bench scraper or spatula. cut the sage with some scissors into small pieces.
2. With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture, working quickly until mostly pea-size pieces of butter remain (a few larger pieces are okay; be careful not to over blend).
3. Combine the water, cider vinegar, and ice in a bowl or large measuring cup.
4. Sprinkle 2 tbsp. of the ice water mixture over the flour mixture, and mix and cut it in with a bench scraper or spatula until it is fully incorporated.
5. Add more of the ice water mixture, 1 to 2 tbsp. at a time, using the bench scraper or your hands (or both) to mix until the dough comes together in a ball, with some dry bits remaining.
6. Squeeze and pinch with your fingertips to bring the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with small drops of the ice water mixture, if necessary, to combine. Shape dough into a flat disc.
7. Flour a flat surface, then roll out dough into a 12- to 13-inch circle. Carefully place dough in 9-inch pie pan, trim hanging edges and crimp. Wrap pan in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight, to give crust time to mellow. (Wrapped tightly, the dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 1 month.)

What you will need for the pie filling:

• 1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (with a few sage leaves in to infuse)
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp of white cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla paste
• 3/4 c Gustare honey
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 to 2 tsp of flake sea salt, for finishing
• One large bramley apple

How to prepare the filling:

1. Have ready the frozen or refrigerated pastry-lined 9-inch pie pan.
2. Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°.
3. In a medium bowl, stir the melted butter, sugar, cornmeal, salt, and vanilla paste.
4. Stir in the Gustare honey and the eggs one at a time, followed by the heavy cream and vinegar.
5. Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator or freezer, place on a rimmed baking sheet, peel the apple and cut in thin slices with a mandolin and place in the pie shell and strain the filling through a fine-mesh sieve directly into the pie shell (or strain it into a separate bowl and then pour it into the shell). the apples
6. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes, rotating 180 degrees when the edges start to set, 30-35 minutes through baking.
7. The pie is finished when the edges are set and puffed up high and the centre is no longer liquid but looks set like gelatine and is golden brown on top.
8. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack, 2-3 hours.
9. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
10. Reheat or serve at room temperature. (The pie will keep for 4 days in the refrigerator or at room temperature for 2 days.)

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