Ingredients
Cinnamon-Infused Honey
- 1/2 cup honey
- Cinnamon stick
- Place honey and cinnamon stick in a pot and heat on low for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, pour into a bottle with cinnamon stick and let sit overnight.
Pie Crust
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 sticks butter, cubed into 1 cm pieces, cold – prepare this beforehand
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 1 cup extra-sharp white cheddar, grated
Filling
- 3 to 4 apples. I used Macintosh, a new England staple for apple pie, and 1 Granny Smith for extra tartness, peeled, cored and sliced.
- Juice from 1/2 lemon + 1 teaspoon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- Egg wash – 1 egg + splash of water, beaten
- Demerara sugar
- Slices of extra-sharp white cheddar
Notes: I used mini tart pans, but you can use any vessel you want – full-size pie pan, cupcake tin, mini cocottes, little tart molds – any will work, just keep an eye on the baking time.
The Prep
- Cube butter into 1 centimeter pieces, and place it in a bowl in the freezer. I find that this allows the butter to get very cold before you work with it. Place cold water into the freezer as well. Don’t worry about it freezing — you will use it before it can freeze.
- Combine flour, salt, sugar, grated cheese.
- Take cold butter, and using a pastry cutter, fork, or fingers, work quickly and cut butter into dry ingredients. Pea-size chunks will remain, and that’s completely fine.
- Using tablespoons at a time, scatter cold water into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-mix or knead. Add the mixture gradually – you can always add more water, but you can’t take it out. The resulting dough should be damp but not moist.
- Separate dough into two halves. Shape into disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in fridge. Let dough rest for at least 1 hour.
- Filling: Squeeze lemon juice over apple slices, toss with brown sugar, salt, and flour.
- On a floured surface, roll one disc of dough to 1/8” thickness. Line tart pans with pie dough. Arrange apple slices over tart. Roll out other half of pie dough and arrange in lattice or full-crust form. Place in fridge for another 10 to 15 minutes. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle Demerara sugar over the top, and for the full-crust pies, slice some venting slits on top.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, until top is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and immediately place a slice of white cheddar right on top of the crust and allow the residual heat to melt cheddar onto the crust. Serve by drizzling cinnamon-infused honey.