By Clare de Boer
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus chilling and cooling
- Rating
- 4(77)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This pie is fudgy, nutty, salty-sweet and spiked with citrus. It’s a meeting of sorts, between arguably Britain and America’s greatest desserts: the treacle tart and pecan pie. Cut corners by grating the crust instead of rolling it out, but don’t skip making your own bread crumbs and roasted walnuts; the texture and flavor rely on the freshness of both. Once you’ve prebaked the crust to biscuit brown, err on the side of undercooking the molasses-custard filling: It’ll firm up when cooled and stay gooey for days.
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9-inch pie (about 10 servings)
- Shortcut Pie Crust (see recipe)
- 4½ounces/130 grams whole raw, unsalted walnuts (about 1½ cups)
- 1cup plus 1 tablespoon/255 milliliters light corn syrup
- Zest of ½ navel orange (about 1 teaspoon) and ¼ cup juice (from the whole orange)
- 1tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- ¼teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- 3ounces/85 grams crustless white bread (crusts removed or reserved for another use), torn into small pieces, then pulsed in a food processor until very fine (about 2 lightly packed cups)
- ½cup/120 milliliters heavy cream, plus more for serving
- 1large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
404 calories; 18 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 58 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 242 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Prepare the Shortcut Pie Crust through Step 3.
Step
2
Once the dough has chilled, working over a 9-inch pie dish, prepare the crust through Step 4, then chill, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. (This can be done ahead.)
Step
3
When you’re ready to bake the pie, heat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange two racks near the center of the oven. Place the chilled pie crust on a sheet pan, and the walnuts on a separate sheet pan. Transfer both to the oven. Bake until the walnuts are evenly golden throughout, 12 to 15 minutes. Continue to bake the pie crust until it turns golden and is fully cooked, another 10 to 15 minutes (for a total of about 25 minutes). Finely chop the walnuts to between the size of a steel-cut oat and a pea. Variety in size is nice.
Step
4
While the pastry bakes, prepare the filling: Add the corn syrup, orange zest and juice, molasses, ginger and salt to a small saucepan and warm over low heat just until the syrups liquefy and loosen. (Do not boil.) Add the bread crumbs and toasted walnuts to the warmed mixture, stir and let sit until slightly cooled.
Step
5
In a medium bowl, whisk the heavy cream and eggs together with a fork to combine, then fold it into the cooled walnut mixture. Pour into the pie crust and bake on a sheet pan until the center of the pie just sets, about 25 minutes. Serve at room temperature or just above, with plenty of heavy cream for drizzling.
Ratings
4
out of 5
77
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ellen Tabor
Should the crust be blind baked with weights or not?
CiCi
This was fun to make: the interesting assortment of ingredients (molasses with orange juice with cream with fresh bread crumbs) left me really curious as to what the final product would taste like. I liked it. The orange juice and zest was an interesting twist. I do wonder what it might be like with maple syrup. This is less intensely sweet than pecan pie, but I wish it had been "nuttier."
Mon S
Also made this exactly as recipe stated. Found it to be very bland. I am not a sweets person so was looking forward to a unique and different option for Thanksgiving, and let me say this is *not* IT. Too many bread crumbs? Not enough molasses? Anybody else have any ideas?
judi spoor
I feel it would be better if the walnuts were left whole for more of a crunch and ground almonds replaced the bed crumbs for a nuttier taste.
Brooke B
Thanks to all that left notes before!! I made sure to taste the filling before I poured it, and it was a tiny bit bland. I added double the molasses, and the pie was great!! I also used half a fresh orange, and half of OJ instead of only the fresh orange. My bottled oj was a sweeter/stronger orange flavor. At the end I topped it with whipped cream. The filling didn’t totally fill my pie crust-next time I’ll make a 1/2 portion more of the filling.
Abby
I used lemon juice instead of orange because it was what I had and I found it to be a pleasant pie. Very simple both in taste and steps. It’s not too sweet and the nuts are a nice crunch. I would definitely play around with the spices if I was to do it again.
RP
It's like a pecan pie, but very bland. Hard to describe. The orange barely comes through as well. It isn't terrible, but I wouldn't make it again, not without significant adjustments.
Amanda
Doesn’t say how to make the bread crumbs
CiCi
This was fun to make: the interesting assortment of ingredients (molasses with orange juice with cream with fresh bread crumbs) left me really curious as to what the final product would taste like. I liked it. The orange juice and zest was an interesting twist. I do wonder what it might be like with maple syrup. This is less intensely sweet than pecan pie, but I wish it had been "nuttier."
Mon S
Also made this exactly as recipe stated. Found it to be very bland. I am not a sweets person so was looking forward to a unique and different option for Thanksgiving, and let me say this is *not* IT. Too many bread crumbs? Not enough molasses? Anybody else have any ideas?
Gina
I made this as instructed and it turned out amazing. I tried the pie crust as well and I think it's my new favorite recipe. We served this on Thanksgiving and everyone loved it.
Very sweet
Texture surprisingly light, orange a nice twist, but was a little too sweet for my liking.
Judy
Could pecans be substituted for the walnuts and maple syrup for the molasses?
Raindrop
I’d rather substitute in maple syrup or golden syrup to replace the one cup of corn syrup. Alaga cane syrup might also be good.
Carol Mason
The pie is described as fudgy. Is chocolate among the ingredients?
Ellen Tabor
Should the crust be blind baked with weights or not?
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