The Beatles said it best:

“Honey pie,
Honey pie,
Honey pie,
Honey pie,
I love you.”

I first made this salted honey pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds back in the summer and we loved it so much I made it again for Canadian Thanksgiving in October. Initially our dinner guests were a bit disappointed there was no pumpkin pie (not my favourite, and one of the perks hosting is you get to choose the menu 😉 ) but after the first bite of this salty-sweet confection, all complaints were erased.

You might be thinking only Winnie the Pooh would enjoy a pie made of honey, but if you like pecan pie or butter tarts, you will probably love this pie – it’s essentially that same gooey, sweet filling but without any nuts or (shudder) raisins to mar it. The taste of the honey shines through (so use a good one, or get creative with different flavours and varieties of honey) and a generous sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of the pie plus a large dollop of unsweetened whipped cream with each slice tempers the sweetness and makes this into a balanced and truly delicious dessert.

I found the recipe online the first time I made this pie, and after checking out the Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book from the library, I realized there were a few differences between the online version and the printed version. The online version was perfection for me though, so that’s what I’m sticking with here. I hope you love it as much as we did!

Salty Honey Pie

Adapted from Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shop, via South Brooklyn Post. I halved the recipe to make a smaller 7″ pie, but the recipe below as written makes one 9″ pie, about 12 servings (this is a sweet, rich dessert so small slices are good!). Click here for a printable PDF of the recipe.

Have prepared one blind-baked 9″ pie shell – my favourite pie crust recipe is this one, and I use Stella Park’s blind-baking method.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F (325˚F convection).

In a medium bowl, whisk together to form a paste:

1/2 cup unsalted butter melted

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

2 tbsp fine cornmeal (white or yellow)

1/4 tsp fine salt

Add:

3/4 cup liquid honey

1/2 cup cream

3 beaten eggs

2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla or the seeds scraped from 1 whole vanilla bean

Whisk until well blended, but try not to incorporate too much air in the mixture.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked pie crust.

Set the pie on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated 350˚F (325˚F convection) oven for 45-60 minutes, until the filling puffs up like a microwaved marshmallow. The edges should be set and the middle slightly wobbly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Before serving sprinkle the top of the pie generously with 1-2 tbsp flaky sea salt, such as Maldon (I ended up adding a bit more salt after tasting the pie).

Cut into slices and serve with unsweetened whipped cream.

Leftovers can be kept up to 4 days in the fridge or 2 days at room temperature, but good luck with that 😉