The Ultimate Kentucky Transparent Pie
Creamy and smooth, balanced with just the right amount of salty browned butter and luscious vanilla bean, and sporting a perfect flaky all-butter crust, this is my ultimate Kentucky Transparent Pie and it’s a beloved classic for good reason. My version uses salted butter – worth noting here – which really helps give the super sweet pie a nice balance and greater depth of flavor (trust me). It works more effectively than simply adding a little salt does. That said, if you’d prefer to use unsalted butter, simply add ½ teaspoon salt to the pastry and to the filling as well.
- Yield: makes one 9-inch pie 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Pastry
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons salted butter, cut into small pieces (one stick)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
For the Filing
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, minimum (vanilla extract is also great)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
Serving Suggestion: big dollops of whipped cream or powdered sugar
Instructions
- To make the pastry, put the flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor (you can also do this by hand in a large mixing bowl). Pulse/process a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse to mix and combine everything, creating a shaggy dough. Add three tablespoons of ice water and pulse again to help moisten the dough.
- Transfer to a floured work surface and work gently until you have a cohesive dough. Knead/pat the dough into a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the 8 tablespoons of salted butter into a small pan over medium heat. Allow it to fully melt and then continue simmering until it’s a light golden brown, a few more minutes. You’ll know your brown butter is ready when it’s gone quiet on you. Remove from the heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, vanilla bean paste (or extract), flour, cream, and the browned butter until nice and smooth. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Adjust the rack to the middle position.
- When your pastry has chilled for 30 minutes, remove it from the fridge and, working on a floured surface, roll it out until it’s about 2 inches larger than your pie plate. Put the crust in your plate and trim the edges as needed (scissors are great for this). Crimp them as you like. Put the pie plate into a baking sheet. Cover the crust with foil and then add pie weights (dried beans or rice work great here, too). Bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove the foil and weights and bake for 3 more minutes.
- Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust and bake for 35 to 50 minutes, or until set. You can use a crust shield for the first 20 minutes if you like (I don’t have one). After about 40 minutes, I stay close by to keep an eye on the pie’s surface. It will literally brulee for you toward the end, getting very browned in a hurry. So, make sure to take it out of the oven before that burns.
- Allow the pie to cool before slicing and serving. A big dollop of whipped cream is recommended, though not necessary. Enjoy.
Find it online: https://mykitchenlittle.com/2024/10/11/kentucky-transparent-pie/