Food At Faithlegg - Sticky Maple & Walnut Pie

Jenny Flynn, the head chef at Faithlegg House Hotel, joins Maria McCann on The Saturday Café for Food At Faithlegg. This week, Jenny is excited to share her delicious recipe for sticky maple & walnut pie. On the show, they will discuss recipes that are perfect for the season, highlight local suppliers, and offer cooking tips. You can find all past recipes for Food at Faithlegg here.

Sticky Maple & Walnut Pie

My take on pecan pie, with all the extra nuts from Halloween and Thanksgiving coming up give this recipe a try. The chocolate shortbread gives this recipe a lovely twist.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease a 6- or 8-inch tart shell with a removable base or a pie dish.

Ingredients:

• 250 g chocolate shortcrust pastry (200g flour 50g cocoa powder, 125g butter pinch of salt)
• 70 g butter
• 150 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essences or ½ a bean
• ½ tsp mixed spices
• 100 ml maple syrup
• 200g walnuts shelled and lightly toasted in oven.

Method:

1. Roll the sweet pastry on a floured surface and line the tart shell/pie dish. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the pastry to cool and set.
2. Remove from the fridge and fill with parchment paper and baking ceramic beans. Place in the oven to blind bake for 15-20 minutes until blind bake. The pastry can be a little under-blind baked or partially done as the walnut mix will go back in the oven for further baking.
3. In the meantime, prepare the walnut mixture, In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar until just lightly combined and the butter melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Next, in a bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla, spices, and maple syrup.
4. Add the cooled butter and sugar mixture and stir in the walnut pieces. Pour the mixture into the blind-baked tart shell and distribute walnut pieces to ensure they are all around the tart.
5. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the mixture is set in the centre of the pie. Don’t be tempted to eat this too soon it will be very hot so please let it cool down for about 30 minutes.