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Milk and Honey Pie With Cereal Crust
![Milk and Honey Pie With Cereal Crust](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/07/28/dining/26PIESREX3/merlin_187777485_5d675faf-2753-49a1-a6fc-f207bc5d33ea-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 6ounces/170 grams cornflakes (about 5 cups)
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 8tablespoons/115 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 4large egg yolks
- 1large egg
- ¼cup/60 milliliters honey
- ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
- 5tablespoons/40 grams cornstarch
- ½teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1cup/240 milliliters whole milk
- 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
- 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
- 1pound/454 grams ripe plums, pitted and sliced
- 1 to 2teaspoons honey (optional)
For the Crust
For the Filling
For Serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle position. Combine cornflakes, sugar and salt in a food processor and process until finely ground. (You should have about 1½ cups). Add butter and pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Step 2
Transfer cornflake mixture to a standard 9-inch pie plate. Using the bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup, press the mixture up the sides and into the bottom of the pie plate. Bake on the middle rack until dry and deeper golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. (If the crust slumps or puffs while it bakes, gently press it back into place while still warm with the measuring cup and proceed.) Let cool completely.
- Step 3
Make the filling: Whisk the egg yolks, egg, honey, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and cream and place over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking continuously, until mixture thickens and starts to bubble, 4 to 7 minutes. Continue to cook, whisking continuously, for 1 minute more. Pour mixture into the cooled crust and spread in an even layer. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours and up to overnight.
- Step 4
To serve: Beat cream using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Dollop cream on top of pie, top with plums and drizzle with honey if desired.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
This was a big hit at a recent summer dinner party - the honey notes in the custard are lovely paired with ripe stone fruit (I did a mix of nectarines and pluots). The cornflake crust is unique and gives a nice crunchy texture. Will definitely make again!
I would usually replace heavy cream with full fat coconut milk. it whips up perfectly just like cream when cold and would be the perfect consistency for the filling. just make sure you keep the can in the fridge before you use.
This is too much.
This is an American version of South African melktert (milk tart). In SA, we use a pate sucre for the crust, and we top it with cinnamon (no whipped cream - sacrilege!) - it’s my favorite dessert!
Kosher salt measures differently and taste different to table salt. Different brands of salt differ as well. Trust the writer of the recipe!
Did anyone else find the texture a little rubbery? Think 5 Tbl. of cornstarch is too much.
The flavor profile on this pie is reminiscent of cereal milk, which I love. The crust in particular was fantastic and unique. I decreased the sugar in the filling a bit, skipped the whipped cream, and topped with peaches. Perfect balance of rich, crunchy, buttery, fruity, and indulgent without being too heavy. Will make again!
I thought this was fantastic. I was hesitant based on the other reviews, but if you do it correctly it is a fabulous summer dessert. Absolutely will be making again. In terms of the corn starch, I only used 3 tablespoons. 5 is way too much and explains the other comments about the custard being too rubbery. When making the custard make sure you have whisked the eggs, sugar, honey, kosher salt, and corn starch until it is well blended. Then whisk in the milk and make sure you whisk it well.
5 tablespoons of cornstarch is definitely too much. 3 to 4 tablespoons is plenty. Also I increased the honey to half cup because I thought the flavor was too muted with only a quarter cup. Did not come out overly sweet; just right.
I rarely make the same recipe twice, because I love trying new things, but I might have to make this one again. I made this two weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it! The honey custard was rich and floral (I used orange blossom honey and only 3 tbsp cornstarch), and the cornflake crust was perfectly crunchy and had a wonderful salted caramel flavor. They went together beautifully. I topped it with fresh whipped cream, white peaches, and a drizzle of honey.
This pie was so good I'm still thinking about it a month later, especially that cornflake crust. I reduced the cornstarch to 3 tbsp and it set up perfectly. More definitely would have been rubbery. I used orange blossom honey and topped with white nectarines; the floral notes in the white nectarines paired great with the honey flavor!
Wow, I feel like one of your contributors SAMANTHA SENEVIRATNE, copied this recipe and turned it into bananas and cornflakes for breakfast in her new baking book. I thought her recipe was so creative and unique and now I find that it really is just copying this recipe. Always disappointing.
Lovely summer dessert. My gluten-free enjoyed the cornflake crust. Fresh, sweet plums are perfect on the pie but stone fruits would equally well.
This is a delicious pie. I used all the sugar, all the honey, all the cornstarch, all the eggs, all the cornflakes, all the all. It came out gorgeous! Maybe because I weighed my ingredients? Totally worth it! Topped it with nectarines, plums, strawberries and raspberries. I think in fall pears, hazelnuts with a drizzle of melted chocolate would be good. The whip cream is not too much on top. This pie has become known in my house as cereal milk pie. My daughter requests it all the time.
Loved making this and planning to make it for thanksgiving with roasted apple instead of the plums? Any other suggestions ?
This pie was so good I'm still thinking about it a month later, especially that cornflake crust. I reduced the cornstarch to 3 tbsp and it set up perfectly. More definitely would have been rubbery. I used orange blossom honey and topped with white nectarines; the floral notes in the white nectarines paired great with the honey flavor!
I rarely make the same recipe twice, because I love trying new things, but I might have to make this one again. I made this two weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it! The honey custard was rich and floral (I used orange blossom honey and only 3 tbsp cornstarch), and the cornflake crust was perfectly crunchy and had a wonderful salted caramel flavor. They went together beautifully. I topped it with fresh whipped cream, white peaches, and a drizzle of honey.
5 tablespoons of cornstarch is definitely too much. 3 to 4 tablespoons is plenty. Also I increased the honey to half cup because I thought the flavor was too muted with only a quarter cup. Did not come out overly sweet; just right.
Too many eggs! Made 1 less egg and one less T cornstarch. The filling was so good! The cornflake crust was underwhelming. Will use graham cracker crust next time.
This was lovely. Made with a few tweaks: • a generous 1/4 tsp of a cinnamon/cardamom/ginger blend added to the crust and then sprinkled on the whipped cream to serve • increased salt to 1/2 tsp in crust and 3/4 tsp in custard, just a personal preference thing • replaced corn starch with equal weight of rice flour (50g) to account for "rubbery" comments - it set beautifully had a little extra of the crust mix so I baked it off and we used it as crumbles on top, highly recommend
I thought this was fantastic. I was hesitant based on the other reviews, but if you do it correctly it is a fabulous summer dessert. Absolutely will be making again. In terms of the corn starch, I only used 3 tablespoons. 5 is way too much and explains the other comments about the custard being too rubbery. When making the custard make sure you have whisked the eggs, sugar, honey, kosher salt, and corn starch until it is well blended. Then whisk in the milk and make sure you whisk it well.
The pudding would be delightful I am sure, but a lower calorie dessert is the same crust, filled with any one of several vanilla honey yogurts, topped with plums. Healthier for heart, hips and thighs.
It would be helpful in the instructions if you an idea of the consistency you should have after the filling is made. I didnt realize it should have been more custard/pudding like— I thought it would firm up more in the fridge. I think I should have whisked it more.
I don't know.... I didn't love this. I didn't make any substitutions (though I did omit the whipped cream topping), but I just found it kind of flat tasting. Would've loved a bit of vanilla or something a little sharp like lemon zest to brighten it up. Maybe my honey just wasn't flavorful enough? The custard also wasn't as smooth and velvety as I would have liked (five tablespoons of cornstarch *does* seem like a lot). Crust was good, but wish I had erred on the low side of the cook time.
The flavor profile on this pie is reminiscent of cereal milk, which I love. The crust in particular was fantastic and unique. I decreased the sugar in the filling a bit, skipped the whipped cream, and topped with peaches. Perfect balance of rich, crunchy, buttery, fruity, and indulgent without being too heavy. Will make again!
I only made the filling and served it as custard. I didn’t have a full cup of heavy cream or any whole milk, so I substituted about 1/2 cup heavy cream plus 1 1/2 cups 2% milk and it was plenty rich. Delicious!
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