Sugar, ah honey honey…You are my candy girl! If there came a time when I had to choose what was my favorite sweetener of all time, honey would win by tenfold. Today, I’m sharing my love for honey and a recipe that showcases some delicious chestnut honey in pie form with this Honey Lavender Pie. Be prepared to be delighted!
The story begins decades ago, as I grew up in the Dominican Republic to a father that was a beekeeper. That’s where my love for honey began and it hasn’t let go since. My father loved his bees and took great care of them, thanking them daily for the honey and bee pollen they would provide us. To this day, he still consumes honey and pollen daily, as do I. At any point in time, you can find anywhere between 4-5 jars of honeys from around the USA and the world because it’s one of my favorite food items to bring home as souvenirs. So when Rigoni di Asiago emailed me about collaborating and tasting their honey, I jumped at the opportunity. So today, I’m sharing a recipe for a Honey Lavender Pie that will become a favorite – so quick and simple, it’s a delight to serve to guests!
Now, pie is a controversial thing. Everyone has their favorite pie recipe and then again, not everyone has time to make pie crust. If you do have a few minutes to spare, I beg you to try this Old-Fashioned Flaky Pie Crust recipe by my favorite pastry chef and author in the world, Stella Parks. It comes together quickly and the results, as you can see below in the crust, is the flakiest pie crust ever. Maybe picture it like if puff pastry and pie crust had a baby – it’s that good.
The honey used in the recipe is the Rigoni di Asiago Chestnut Honey, a gorgeously deep amber colored honey with a slight bitter aftertaste that is seriously perfect in this pie recipe as it balances the general sweetness. Now, to clarify – chestnut honey is not made from chestnuts themselves, but the bees pollinate chestnut trees, thus it’s what makes the honey so deep in color and rich in flavor. To elevate the pie even more so, I picked some organic lavender from our restaurant gardens and steeped the cream with it, to add a hint of floral undertones. You can add any citrus zest or even other extracts to this pie, as it works well in balancing flavors with the honey. And now, eat pie and enjoy!
Honey Lavender Pie
Ingredients
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh or dried lavender
- 1 cup chestnut honey
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- your favorite pie crust recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Have you pie crust ready to go in a round pie tin!
- In a small saucepan, simmer the cream and the lavender together for ten minutes over low heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.
- In a separate pan, melt the honey and butter together. Strain the cream (removing the lavender buds with a strainer) into the mixture and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and whisk in eggs, salt, and vanilla.
- Pour into formed pie shell and bake at 325F for about 45 minutes, until golden brown.
This is very healthy and delicious recipe. I will try to make soon.
Could you use regular honey in this recipe ? Every year when I visit the Vineyard, I get 2 – 5lb bottles of honey from Cash and Carry. They almost get me thru the year !! Coming in October, hoping I can hold out til then !!!
Yes, you can use any kind of honey you’d like!
This is gorgeous, thanks for recipe. I’ve not tried chestnut honey but love using chestnut flour… the crust would be interesting with a little chestnut flour added. I may try this using buckwheat honey until I get my
hands on some chestnut honey 🙂 .