Salted Honey Chess Pie
 
 
Makes 1 (8-inch) pie
Ingredients
  • All-Butter Piecrust (recipe follows)
  • ¾ cup honey
  • ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons plain yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon lightly packed lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup whole buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Garnish: chopped honey-roasted peanuts, flaked sea salt
All-Butter Piecrust
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
  1. On a lightly floured surface, roll All-Butter Piecrust into a 12-inch circle about ⅛ inch thick. Transfer to an 8-inch cast-iron skillet, pressing into bottom and up sides. Trim excess dough to 1 inch from edge of skillet. Fold edges of dough under, and crimp as desired. Using a fork, prick bottom and sides of crust all over. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 425°.
  3. Top piecrust with a piece of parchment paper, letting ends extend over sides of skillet. Add pie weights.
  4. Bake until crust is dry and lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Carefully remove parchment and weights. Bake until crust is mostly dry and set, 5 to 7 minutes more. Let crust cool completely on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together honey, brown sugar, melted butter, flour, cornmeal, zest, and kosher salt. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Loosely cover edges of crust with foil to prevent excess browning.
  6. Bake until filling is set around the sides and center jiggles slightly when skillet is gently shaken, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Garnish with peanuts and sea salt, if desired.
All-Butter Piecrust
  1. In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add cold butter, and pulse until mixture is crumbly. With processor running, add 4 tablespoons ice water through food chute in a slow, steady stream just until dough comes together. (Mixture may appear crumbly. It should be moist and hold together when pinched.) Slowly add remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary.
  2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. Let dough stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling.
Recipe by Southern Cast Iron at https://southerncastiron.com/salted-honey-pie/