Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp. salt (increase to 1/2 tsp. if using unsalted butter)
1/2 stick cold (salted) butter
1/2 tsp. honey
1-2 T. ice water
1 egg yolk (for egg wash)
Filling:
1/2 stick melted butter
1 1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 tsp. salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 heaping cup chopped pecans
Instructions
1. Crust:In the bowl of a food processor place the almond meal and salt. Blend briefly. Cut the cold butter into 8 pieces and scatter over the almond flour. Pulse several times until mixture resembles coarse meal. While processor is "on" trickle the ice water in through the feed tube, until the dough begins to gather together and form a glob. Stop processing.
2. Dump/scrape the dough glob out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, and by lifting the sides of the wrap, form the dough glob into a ball. Fold the sides of the wrap loosely over the ball and press it down into a flat patty roughly 8 " in diameter. (You may notice small lumps of butter throughout the dough... that's okay.)
3. Refrigerate dough patty at least 30 minutes.
4. Generously butter a 9" pie plate (I use a glass one). Place the dough patty in the center of the plate, plastic wrap side up, and begin to gently work the dough (through the wrap) across the bottom, up the sides, and onto the rim a bit. (I also tried rolling the dough with a rolling pin between two sheets of wrap... that works too, but you waste another sheet of wrap.) Continue working the dough until it's fairly even thickness all over. (This might take a few minutes.) It helps to hold it up to a bright light to see if there are any spots that are too thin or too thick.
5. Refrigerate crust for at least 30 minutes with plastic wrap in place.
6. Preheat oven to 325.
7. Carefully peel off the plastic wrap and prick crust all over with a fork. Then bake it for 10-15 minutes until the edges begin to brown a little and the crust firms up. (Check it for air bubbles from time to time while it bakes and if any large ones occur, poke them with a fork.) Remove crust from oven.
8. Add a little water to the egg yolk and mix until it's a "paintable" consistency. Brush bottom and sides of crust gently with the egg yolk "paint". (I use a soft silicone basting brush.) Be super-careful so as to not tear the very delicate surface of the crust. Return crust to oven for 2 minutes or until egg wash has set. Remove crust to a cooling rack.
9. Filling: Combine butter, honey, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the lightly beaten eggs. Add the pecans and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Cover the edges of the crust with one of those aluminum pie crust shields or strips of aluminum foil. Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes until set... sort of like jello... and no longer runny. Cool completely before serving.
10. Refrigerate leftovers if their are any!
11. This is great served with homemade ice cream made with whipping cream yogurt, or french cream whipped cream that has been sweetened with a dab of honey.
