Recipe Review

Bean Brulee Tart Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #5

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSenior Vice President of Content at AT Media
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning, The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
updated Jun 4, 2019
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
Recipe: Breanne’s Bean Brulee Tart
Category: Original

Look! A white bean pie – for dessert! This is one of the more unusual pies we’ve seen lately, and we’re fascinated. Read all about Breanne’s pie and see more of her beautiful photos. This looks creamy, delicious, and very interesting. Have you ever tried a sweet bean pie?

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Where is this recipe from? The tart pastry is based on Martha Stewart’s.

The bean filling is based on a bean pie recipe.

Why is this the BEST pie recipe you’ve got?This is my best pie because it is made with unusual and frugal ingredients, yet has rich and familiar tastes and textures. The hard caramel crust is a pleasant and crunchy contrast to the creamy, subtle nutmeg and vanilla filling. With white beans as a base, an almost custard-like pie is achieved with just two eggs instead of several.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Bean Brulee Tart

Tart Pastry Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick butter, cut in 8 pieces
4 tbs. margarine, cut in 4 pieces
approximately 4 tbs. ice cold water
1 egg white
1 tbs. turbinado sugar

*if using unsalted butter or margarine, add 1/4 tsp. salt

In a food processor, combine butter and flour and pulse about 10 seconds until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Slowly add water, a little at a time, until the dough forms a ball and holds together. It should be wet but not sticky. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll out dough to 1/8″ thick. Cut to fit 10″ tart pan. Press dough in pan, prick bottom a few times with a fork, and brush all dough with egg white. Sprinkle sugar on bottom and bake 15 minutes.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Bean Filling

1 cup dry navy beans
2 eggs
4 tbs. butter, softened.
1 cup sugar
6 ounces evaporated milk (1/2 of a 12 ounce can)
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. turbinado sugar

Soak beans in 2 cups cold water for four hours. Cook in a pressure cooker 25 minutes or in a pot 1 1/2 hours. Rinse and drain.

Puree beans in a food processor or blender.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl cream butter, 1 cup sugar and eggs. Add pureed beans, evaporated milk, vanilla and nutmeg. Mix well. Pour into pre-baked tart shell.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until filling is set in the center.

Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of filling. Broil about 2 minutes, carefully watching so that the sugar caramelizes but does not burn. You may have to turn the tart once under the broiler to get even browning.

Let cool, then refrigerate about 2 hours before serving. Will keep about 5 days refrigerated.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
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(Images: Breanne)