Brown Butterscotch Pie Recipe
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Browning butter (as opposed to just melting it) is one of those simple adjustments that make the ordinary extraordinary. We changed the classic butterscotch pie by letting the butter and sugar cook longer and therefore give the whole pie a toasty, nutty flavor that balances the sweetness of the caramel.
What to buy: Take the time to make the dough from scratch, as it will lend a flaky butteriness to the dish. Of course, if you are time-constrained (and we understand that), go ahead and use store-bought crust. Just try to get the best you can find.
You’ll need parchment paper or aluminum foil and pie weights to line and weigh down the crust so that it doesn’t puff up while cooking. If you don’t have pie weights or forgot to get them, just use some dried beans.
Game plan: The dough can be made and baked up to a day ahead of time. In fact, the whole pie can be made up to a day ahead of time and, after it has cooled to room temperature, it can be covered and put in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Just bring it to room temperature and then serve it with some whipped cream or ice cream.
This recipe was featured in our 2006 Thanksgiving, Southern Style menu.
- 1 recipe Basic Pie Dough, refrigerated
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds reserved (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 9 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a round approximately 12 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Line a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate with the dough and trim off excess. Pierce the base of the crust with a fork, line with a piece of parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake until it starts to set, about 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper, and continue to bake until dry and slightly brown, another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and keep oven at 350°F. (For a short tutorial on making pie crust, check out our video.)
- Combine vanilla bean and seeds (or vanilla extract, if using) with whole milk and heavy cream in a medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering, remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, in a medium pot over medium heat, melt butter and add 1/2 cup of the dark brown sugar. Mix briefly and cook until mixture bubbles and there is a toasted smell (the butter should be brown but not burnt), about 5 minutes. Carefully whisk in hot milk mixture and remove from heat to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk together 1/4 cup dark brown sugar with egg yolks and cornstarch until it is well blended and whisk leaves a trail when lifted out of mixture, about 3 minutes. Scrape down bowl and, whisking constantly, slowly pour in 1/3 of milk base to egg yolks until well combined. Add egg mixture back to remaining milk and return the pot to stovetop over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture coats back of a spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside. (If custard filling is done before crust is ready, place in a clean bowl and set over an ice water bath to cool.)
- Fill parbaked pie crust with the butterscotch mixture and bake until edges are set and middle still moves slightly, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack until room temperature. Serve at room temperature or cold.
Beverage pairing: Hétszölö Tokaji Aszú 3 Puttonyos, Hungary. You don’t have to pronounce it, just drink it. Hungarian Tokaji is some of the richest sweet wine in the world, though this isn’t the richest style. Still, its flavors of dried fruit, nuts, honey, and brown sugar will complement the pie to create an intense, rich combination.
Wow that sounds really good. Do you have any other recipes? Around thanksgiving time I always bake pies (all pretty good, if I do say so myself) except for the <a href="http://www.behindtheburner.com/recipe... pies recipes</a>. It always ends up tasting either too sweet or kind of-tart-I'm not sure how to explain it. Any help in that respect would be nice.
yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Thanks for letting me know! I still liked the way it tasted, the consistency just seemed to be a little off.
narulamd: we made the recipe again to check everything out and we think the mixture is fine at 2T cornstarch. Aside from that, everything is the same. Thanks for speaking up!
Narulamd: It sounds like you added the egg mixture back to the milk too quickly and therefore curdled the mixture.
Mslizz: Since you're parbaking the crust, it holds up nicely when refrigerated. Go ahead and store it there, covered, until you've finished it off.
I must have done something wrong, but I'm not sure what. Once I added the egg mixture back into the milk base, it coated the back of the spoon immediately. In fact, it turned into a runny omelette like consistency. So I immediately put into into the pie crust and into the oven. The heat didn't seem to change anything. Is this supposed to be so eggy? Maybe I was expecting something else, but the recipe is correct in saying 9 large egg yolks and 3 T of cornstarch right?
Hi. The recipe sounds simple and delicious. But I'm wondering one thing. Assuming you have some left over, how do you best store the pie? In the refrigerator?
I'm always torn over that issue with any pie. Cooling may preserve the filling, but it tends to ruin the crust.
Thanks!
Seems like if you browned the butter first, then added the sugar to stop the cooking, that would be ideal. I'm not sure that you're even really getting the beurre noisette effect if you do it with the sugar.
Yes, color is a hard indicator to go by in this recipe -- the same problem as when you bake chocolate cookies or cakes. That is why, in addition to the brown color, we have provided additional indicators such as that there will be a toasted smell, the mixture will bubble, and it will take about 5 minutes.
yeah, i agree with clare K.
How can you possibilty tell what if the butter is "brown" if there is brown sugar in it already? Wouldn't it make more sense to brown the butter first, then add the brown sugar?
Wow, sounds incredible (albeit high in calories)!
Would love to see more videos from Aida! :) Would be great to have Aida or another CHOW editorial team member provide video profiles of NYC restaurants.