Oh My, Pie!
Bacon-Maple Walnut Pie
Bacon-Maple Walnut Pie
Even if you like your morning bacon limp, fry it crisp enough that you can shard it into pieces. These will soften in the pie, providing a distinctly porky flavor to go with the walnuts and maple syrup. You don’t want to burn the bacon—doing so can add unpleasantly bitter notes. But get it crisp enough to stand up to the long baking time and still release lots of sophisticated, caramelized flavor without ending up as chewy, rubbery bits.
Bacon-Maple Walnut Pie
For the Crust
- 4 ounces thin-cut bacon slices
- Up to 5 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
- At least 2 tablespoons very cold water
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
For the Filling
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup maple syrup, preferably Grade A dark/robust or No. 2
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups chopped walnuts
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- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place oven rack in the center.
- To make the crust: Fry the bacon, turning occasionally with a fork, in a large skillet set over medium heat, until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate, and set aside.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat from the skillet, and then transfer the remainder of the fat in the skillet into a heat-safe liquid measuring cup. Cool for 10 minutes at room temperature. Add enough solid shortening so that the total volume in the cup measures 6 tablespoons (¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons).
- Pour the flour into a large bowl, and add the combined fat in the measuring cup. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, work the fat through the flour until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
- Stir 2 tablespoons of cold water and the vinegar in a small cup or bowl. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until a soft, pliable, but not sticky dough forms, adding more cold water in 1-teaspoon increments as necessary. Gather the dough into a ball, dust it with flour, and roll it into an 11-inch crust. Center and set the crust into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges, and flute them as desired.
- To make the filling: Beat the eggs, the maple syrup, the white and brown sugars, and the vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and uniform, even a little foamy at the top. Beat in the reserved 2 tablespoons of bacon fat.
- Working by hand, crumble the bacon into tiny bits in the bowl. Stir in the walnuts until well combined, and pour into the prepared pie crust.
- To finish up: Bake the pie until puffed and brown, until there is only a slight jiggle in the filling at the center of the pie when the rim of the plate is tapped, about 55 minutes. Cool the pie on a wire rack for at least 1½ hours or to room temperature before slicing into wedges to serve. Store tightly sealed with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Posted in Issue 80 Vol 2, Recipe on Nov 16, 2016