Maple Caramel Pie
Course:
Dessert
Seasonal Event:
Christmas
Yield:
8 to 10 servings
Time:
1 hour prep, 4 hours total time
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 single crust of all-butter double-crust pastry (recipe below)
- ¾ cup pure maple syrup, grade b
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp bourbon (optional)
- ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1¾ cups hazelnuts husked/skinned, coarsely chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Gold metallic color dust or food spray (optional)
ALL-BUTTER DOUBLE-CRUST PASTRY RECIPE:
- ½ cup ice water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ -inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS:
- Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry, decorate or crimp edge and place in freezer until ready to fill.
- Heat oven to 350°F with rack in the lower third. Bring maple syrup, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt to a boil in saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling 1 min, reducing heat as needed to prevent mixture from boiling over. Remove pan from heat. Add bourbon and butter and stir until butter melts. Let cool to lukewarm.
- Beat together eggs and vanilla, whisk in cooled maple mixture. Spread hazelnuts in frozen crust in the pie plate and pour over hazelnuts in the crust.
- Bake pie until filling is set and slightly puffed, about 1 hr; cover crust with foil for the last 20 min to prevent over-browning. Cool completely.
- Toss some extra hazelnuts with a little metallic dust, or spray with gold food spray for garnish. Store pie, covered, for up to a day
ALL-BUTTER DOUBLE-CRUST PASTRY:
Makes 2 single crusts
- Mix together the ice water and vinegar; set aside.
- Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas. Add ⅓ cup water-vinegar mixture in a slow stream and pulse several times. Pinch dough to see if it is holding together. If it’s not, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition, until the dough just holds together.
- Working quickly so the butter doesn’t soften, gather dough together and divide in half. Form dough into two disks, wrap each disk in plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes or overnight.
Tara’s Tip: you can use edible gold spray paint to spray extra hazelnuts for garnish. It makes a pretty metallic decoration!