Lavender Honey Pie

Last summer, I went on a 3 week Eurotrip that culminated in Provence and then Paris.  Food and wine and driving through disgustingly beautiful country roads and lavender fields reigned supreme in Provence, and I refused to leave without getting my fix of lavender.  Aside from soap, I also bought a bag of culinary lavender (lavender flowers you can cook with) and amazing lavender honey.

I love honey in pie, so when I came across a lavender honey pie in the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cookbook, I had my heart set on finishing my lavender honey with this pie.

To find the recipe for homemade pie crust, check out my Blood Orange Custard pie post for step by step instructions, as you’ll be doing the same thing here.

But before we get into the recipe, let’s just stop and appreciate the liquid gold goodness that is sugar, flour, cornmeal, salt, butter and honey…

*drools*

Recipe adapted from Four and Twenty Blackbirds cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 partially pre-baked pie crust
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp salted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup lavender honey
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp lavender syrup
• Candied lavender flowers (recipe below makes way more than you need)

Steps

1. To make candied lavender flowers, sprinkle 3 tbsp lavender flowers with 1 teaspoon of water and mix gently until distributed evenly.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the flowers slowly, mixing gently after each addition.  Place mixture in sieve and shake gently until excess sugar is gone.  Place on baking sheet covered in parchment and dry in 200F oven for 20 minutes.  Set aside.
2. Whisk together sugar, flour, cornmeal and salt until combined and add melted butter and lavender honey, mix well.
3. Add the eggs and yolk, mixing thoroughly after the addition of each egg.  Add the cream, lemon juice and lavender syrup and mix well.
4. Pour filling into shell through a strainer and bake on a baking sheet at 325F for 50 minutes, or until the pie is set but still shakes like gelatin in the middle.
5. Sprinkle candied lavender on top as garnish, cool for 2 hours.

Bon appetit!