Maple Walnut Pie - Who Knew Syrup Was For More Than Pancakes?

Guest Written by the Pie Guy’s Wife

When my husband came up with the idea of a pie blog I was, to say the least, skeptical about the possibility of it coming into fruition. Then the planner part of me started in and helped sketch out a whole year of pies so if we decided to do this we were completely read to dive in for 52 weeks of a different pie each week. Yes, the Pie Guy will tell you I have a problem. I think he has actually, at least once.

When we started filling in the months after choosing some seasonal favorites I looked up National Holidays to tie into. In December I found National Syrup Day celebrated December 17^th. The Pie Guy has a bit of an obsession with maple syrup. He stops at a specific restaurant on our trips to his parents’ house to pick up“local” syrup that he hasn’t found an equivalent to local to our home. He also had a friend who swears by Grade B syrup, which we finally located in time to make this week’s pie.

The Pie Guy also wanted to try out a new crust. I was more than a little concerned when I walked in from a meeting to find him scraping the crumbled mess from the rolling pin. He has assured me it is going to be great. I still wasn't sure an hour later when I heard grumbling from the kitchen. 

The Pie Guy adds:

Well, it wasn't great.

The crust was a wet, difficult to roll out mess. The filling was, um, odd. Hey, you win some, you lose some.

After combining the flour with the butter and shortening, carefully chilling between every roll out, I added four ounces of sour cream. It should be delicious, with all that fat and that balance of acid and salt. The recipe promised it would be crispy.  

My first attempt to roll it out was on a piece of parchment paper. When I tried to put it in the pan, the crust stuck so badly that I couldn't get it free without tearing the crust.  I pushed it together, rolled it back out on a piece of plastic wrap. The plastic wrap worked better, but the dough was still very, very moist. I put the filling in, and baked it.

The filling was similar to a traditional Pecan Pie filling: a few eggs, a lot of sugar and (in this case,) maple syrup. It added some bitter and sour elements, some vinegar, tea, and I used walnuts rather than pecans.  The walnuts often add a little bitter edge.

The reviews on this pie came back mixed. Some people thought it was too sweet, some people liked the strong maple flavor. Personally, I found the flavor of the vinegar overwhelmed the flavor of the syrup. When I make this again, if I make it again, I'll halve the vinegar.

Hopefully next week will be better.

Maple Walnut Pie

One unbaked pie crust

Pre-heat your oven to 450°.

Fit the pie crust in a pan, make the edges look pretty. Chill the crust while you mix the filling.

Filling

3 eggs

¾ C. + 2 Tbsp. Light Brown Sugar, packed

¾ C. Grade B Maple Syrup

6 Tbsp. Butter, melted

healthy pinch of Salt

¼ C. Freshly Brewed Strong Tea

2 Tbsp. + ½ Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar (This was the original, to my taste, 1 Tbsp. would be enough)

¾ C. Coarsely Chopped Walnuts

Mix the eggs and brown sugar. Whisk in the maple syrup, butter, salt, tea, and vinegar. Stir in the walnuts.  Pour the filling into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes at 450°.

Reduce heat to 350°. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is just jiggly, like the center of a perfectly done custard. Cool on a wire rack to room temp.