A hot toddy on a cool day just hits the spot. Cinnamon, whiskey, lemon, and honey–it’s cozy and comforting and is basically the drink equivalent of wrapping yourself in a warm blanket while wearing a pair of fuzzy socks. This Hot Toddy Pie brings all of the comfort and flavor of a hot toddy to the table with each smooth, custardy bite.
This is another one of those pies that I like to refer to as a “flash of brilliance.” I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t been thinking about this pie for months now, just waiting for the right time to share it, wondering how to properly incorporate all of the flavors of a hot toddy into a pie. I played with a few ideas–a cold set custard, a layer of whiskey caramel–but ultimately, this baked custard filling was the only route I could take.
The filling is smooth and sweet–the flavors of honey, whiskey, and lemon are wonderfully balanced with a pop of cinnamon in every bite–and this pie is every it as comforting as I dreamed it would be. Of course, that doesn’t mean that developing it came without some challenges.
Usually, when I’m not too familiar with a bake–like a baked custard pie–I gather together a bunch of recipes and try to see what ingredients were used, what quantities were used, and I try to start somewhere in the middle with what has worked for others, making tweaks along the way to get the flavor and texture that I want. Key words there: making tweaks. At first, this pie–while edible–was a bit of a mess. There was a caramel that bubbled to the top of the custard filling making the pie look burnt, butter leaked out of the filling, meaning I had to slip a paper towel in between the crust and the pie dish to soak up the excess; butter was still seeping out as it sat in the fridge. Not to mention, the pie was overwhelmingly whiskey. Like, maybe I shouldn’t be eating this at 8am, if you don’t drink you might get drunk from a slice, whiskey. It took forever to bake and was essentially a flan in a butter soaked pie crust.
But that’s why you continue to work at things. This filling uses the same exact ingredients, but the quantities of each have changed just enough to give this Hot Toddy pie a texture more akin to a pumpkin pie with a flavor that’s balanced and well rounded so that it actually tastes like a hot toddy, not just the alcohol. It’s absolutely dreamy.
Not to mention, it’s annoyingly simple. The trickiest bit might be par-baking the crust, but once that’s ready (make sure you have enough weights or beans or rice to keep the sides in place–I use a combination because I quickly learned that 1 small box of ceramic pie weights that barely covers the bottom of the pie is not enough to hold everything in place, no matter how cold the butter is), everything for the custard gets mixed together in one bowl and can be strained right into the pie crust before going in the oven. Just make sure you don’t start mixing the custard until the crust has already cooled to room temp and the oven is preheated, ready for you to bake. Once in the oven, you’ll know it’s ready when the center no longer looks wet, but if you give the pie dish a nudge, the middle will still jiggle while the outside stays in place. The pie continues to cook after it’s out of the oven, so the jiggle is key to avoid over-baking.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 65-75 minutes |
| Passive Time | 4-24 hours |
| Servings |
slices
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- 300 grams all purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 lemon zest only
- 1/2 Tsbp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 170 grams unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 1 Tbsp vodka
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4-6 Tbsp ice water (or more, as needed)
- egg white wash 1 egg white whisked with 1 Tbsp water
- 40 grams unsalted butter melted
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp corn starch
- 45 mL lemon juice (fresh squeezed, about 1 small lemon)
- 115 grams honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs large, room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 40 mL whiskey or bourbon
- 220 mL whole milk room temperature
Ingredients
Cinnamon Lemon Crust
Hot Toddy Custard Filling
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- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, lemon zest, sugar, and salt. Add in the cubes of butter and toss in the dry ingredients to coat. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until you're left with mostly pea sized chunks of butter covered in flour. Using a knife, stir in the vodka and the apple cider vinegar. Add in the ice water 1-2 Tbsp at a time, stirring with the knife until big chunks start to form. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball (if there are still dry bits, sprinkle a little bit of water over them until you can pull all the dough together). Flatten into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Lightly grease a 9" pie dish that's 1"-1.5" deep. Set aside.
- Lightly flour your work surface and the top of your pastry. Roll out the chilled dough until it is 1/4" thick. It should be large enough so that when you place it in your pie dish, there will be some overhang.
- Using a rolling pin, transfer the dough to your prepared pie dish. Gently press the dough into the bottom of the dish and the sides--lift up the dough to help it drop into the bottom rather than pressing and stretching. Trim any excess overhang, leaving about 1 inch over the top of the pie dish. Fold back the edges and crimp as desired. Dock the bottom and the sides of the pastry with a fork. Return the pie dish to the fridge for 30 minutes-1 hour until the pastry is chilled solid (10-15 minutes in the freezer should do this as well).
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place a large baking sheet on the lower rack of the oven. Once your pie crust has chilled so that the pastry is firm and solid, line with a crumpled up piece of parchment paper. Weigh down the parchment with pie weights--if you don't have pie weights, you can also use dried beans or dried rice to keep the dough from puffing up and from slipping down the sides--enough to cover the whole bottom and up the sides of the dish. Place the crust on the baking sheet and bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove the parchment and the weights. Brush the inside of the crust with the egg white wash and return to the middle rack of the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes. The crust will be partially baked through. Leave the crust to cool, on the baking sheet, until room temperature.
- Once the par-baked crust is at room temperature, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium-large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, corn starch, lemon juice, and salt until combined. Whisk in the honey and the vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk, 1 at a time, until fully incorporated. Add in the whiskey and slowly pour in the milk, 1/3 at a time, mixing until you have one smooth filling.
- Strain the filling directly into the par-baked pie crust. Place the pie--still on the large baking sheet--on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, carefully rotating the pie at 30 minutes. The edges should puff and firm up but the middle will still have a bit of a wobble. The pie will continue cooking once it's removed from the oven, so you want to pull it when the middle is no longer wet, but still has a bit of a jiggle when you move the dish.
- Remove the pie from the oven and allow to sit on the baking sheet for 30 minutes, until the center begins to firm up. Transfer the pie dish to a wire rack and leave to cool an additional 3-4 hours at room temperature. I usually find it's okay to leave the pie out overnight covered with foil, but if you're more comfortable refrigerating it, place it in the fridge once the filling has set and the pie has cooled completely to room temperature. Slice and serve as is or with a bit of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.