Bake

Honey Tart

by:
January 20, 2016
4
4 Ratings
Photo by Rach Kim
  • Makes one 8-inch tart or six 4-inch tarts
Author Notes

A lot of my recipe inspiration comes from visiting restaurants and loving the food. This tart is inspired by a trip to Abe Fisher in Philadelphia. For dessert, we enjoyed a honey tart and it was amazing. I love honey (I could probably eat an entire bottle for fun). Abe Fisher served their honey tart with diced pear and candied bee pollen, but I was happy even without the accoutrement, so I'm sharing the pure tart here.

By the way, an alternative is to use a graham cracker crust, which would be equally delicious but much less fussy than a pate brisee. —Rach Kim

Test Kitchen Notes

I was delighted to try this recipe, having recently tasted (and instantly falling in love with) honey pie. This Honey Tart is sweet (naturally) without being cloying. As the author suggested, I tried a graham cracker crust and thoroughly enjoyed the combination. The second time around, I finished it off with a sprinkling of flaked sea salt on top. I can't wait to try this with an infused honey (or perhaps infusing my own!). I would suggest planning a bit more chill time, as my custard wasn't quite set after 2 hours. —Stephanie

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Ingredients
  • For the pie crust (alternatively, a graham crust can be used):
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 pinch cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1/4 cup ice water
  • For the honey custard:
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon cold butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
  1. For the crust, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.
  2. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse sand. (Alternatively, pulse the dry ingredients with the butter in a food processor.)
  3. Slowly drizzle in cold water and stir gently until the dough is moist enough to stay together when squeezed. (Alternatively, drizzle cold water into food processor, pulsing a few times to combine.)
  4. Quickly press the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  5. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F. Roll the dough out in between two pieces of parchment and then press into tart pan(s). Line crust(s) with parchment and fill with pie weights.
  6. Blind bake the pie crusts for 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust is cooked through. Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes until the edges start to brown. Set the crusts aside to cool.
  7. Heat milk, honey, and the scraped vanilla pod in a saucepan until scalding.
  8. Whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla caviar (i.e. the scraped beans from the vanilla pod), salt, and cornstarch until smooth and pale.
  9. Temper the yolks with a little of the hot milk mixture. Whisk slowly. Continue adding the milk little by little, whisking until smooth.
  10. Pour the custard base back into the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook slowly, whisking continuously until thickened. The custard should come to a gentle boil.
  11. Remove the custard from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Fish out the vanilla pod and sieve to remove any lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature.
  12. Pour the cooled custard into the cooled pie crust(s). Cover with plastic wrap and chill completely (about 2 hours).
  13. Set the tart out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
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5 Reviews

Michal K. October 30, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this recipe - the custard was delicious and unlike everything I've ever had, but runnier than the photo suggests. This made cutting the pie rather difficult! Additionally, the pie crust turned out oddly salty and chewy. If I make this again I'll use my old reliable pie crust recipe, or maybe make just the custard - it would work perfectly in a trifle or served in ramekins with some berries.
LeBec F. January 30, 2016
congrats rach!
LeBec F. January 25, 2016
rach, this looks so lovely! one question- what is vanilla caviar?(step 8) Thx
Rach K. January 25, 2016
Thanks! I modified the recipe above to make it clearer, but the vanilla caviar is the actual scraped insides of the vanilla bean. So, in Step 7, you use the scraped leftover pod to steep in the milk and in Step 8, you use the actual innards of the bean to speckle the custard. Does this make sense?

Let me know if you actually make these tarts.
LeBec F. January 25, 2016
rach, ohhh, i get it now! good editing job. thx!