Chef James Martin had two goals when devising a signature dessert for Bocadillo Market in Chicago, one of our 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022: to highlight an ingredient central to Spanish cooking and to avoid dishes that already get a lot of play in the US, such as flan or Basque cheesecake. He and the team landed on this lofty custardy pie that has a fudge-like texture thanks to almond flour in the filling. It is a true celebration of a nut that represents the history of Spain, having traveled with the Moors from North Africa through the Iberian peninsula to ultimately become a staple of Spanish sweets.
Adding alcohol to a pie crust dough ensures that you’ll get a tender, flaky result; hard liquor makes the dough more malleable without developing the gluten in the flour like extra water would. Martin uses Spanish gin at the restaurant—specifically Nordés gin, from Galicia, but vodka will work as well. Another pro tip is to seek out a deep-dish pie plate to achieve the custard layer’s impressive height and thickness.
While a slice of this pie is more than enough on its own, it sings when paired with seasonal fruit. Try a spiced pear or apple compote in the fall and winter, bright pickled strawberries in the spring, and macerated stone fruit in the summer. And be sure to let the pie completely cool before you cut into it so your slices will hold their shape—either room temperature or cold from the fridge is the move.
All products featured on Bon Appétit are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through the retail links below, we earn an affiliate commission.
What you’ll need
9"-Diameter Deep Pie Dish
$22 At Amazon
Blender
$40 At Amazon
Scale
$26 At Amazon
Whisk
$10 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
8–10 servings
Ingredients
Crust
1
2½
1
1
4
Custard and assembly
2½
9
2
¼
2½
1
Special equipment
Preparation
Crust
Step 1
Grease pie dish with unsalted butter, then lightly dust with all-purpose flour, shaking out excess. Whisk 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. sugar, and 2½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour in a large bowl to combine. Add 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, and toss to coat. Working quickly and aggressively, rub and smash butter into dry ingredients with your fingers to create shaggy pieces (you want some that are flat and thin and some that are pea-size).
Step 2
Combine 4 tsp. gin or vodka or ice water and 4 tsp. ice water in a small bowl; drizzle over flour mixture, stirring with a fork to evenly distribute. Knead dough in bowl until it starts to come together (it will still look a little dry). Turn dough out onto a surface and knead 1 or 2 more times to incorporate shaggy edges. Press into a 1"-thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.
Step 3
Roll out disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼" thick. Carefully transfer to pie dish. Lift up edges and allow dough to slump down into dish. Gently press into edges of dish if needed. Trim overhang so dough is flush with edges of pan. Freeze crust at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.
Custard and assembly
Step 4
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°. Heat 2½ cups (500 g) sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium, whisking occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Transfer syrup to a small bowl and let cool.
Step 5
Meanwhile, remove crust from freezer and prick bottom in several places with a fork. Line with parchment paper or foil, leaving overhang; fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until set and edges are barely golden, 13–17 minutes. Remove crust from oven and, using overhang, lift out parchment paper and pie weights.
Step 6
Whisk 9 large egg yolks and 1 large egg in a large bowl to combine. Add cooled syrup and ¼ tsp. almond extract (if using) and whisk to combine. Add 2½ cups (240 g) ground almond flour or meal and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and whisk again to combine. Transfer mixture to a blender and blend on high until very smooth and airy, about 1 minute. Pour filling into crust.
Step 7
Lightly beat remaining 1 large egg in a small bowl and brush crust with egg.
Step 8
Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake pie 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300° and continue to bake pie until crust is deeply browned and top of filling is dark brown and set around the edges (a little jiggle in the center is okay), about 40 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool before slicing (if you cut pie while it is still warm, the slices will fall apart).
Do ahead: Pie can be baked 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
Leave a Review
Reviews (29)
Back to TopWhat is meant by this -- "Combine 4 tsp. gin or vodka or ice water and 4 tsp. ice water"? Are we adding 4 or 8 tsp liquid to the crust ingredients?
DD
CHICAGO
9/19/2022
@ DD in Chicago: They want you to add 8 tsp total of liquid. As some don't keep liquor in their home, BA is offering the vodka, gin, OR ice water as the first 4 tsp...and that must be added to 4 tsp of ice water. So a total of 8 tsp. Many pie dough recipes call for vodka as part of the binding liquid as it makes the dough feel way more moist and thus easier to work with. Also, the ethanol in the vodka stops the gluten in the flour from binding, making for a more tender end product.
Stickyheels
Durham, NC
9/22/2022
This tasted delicious, but it did not turn out looking anything like the photo. I even used pasture raised eggs, who's yolks are usually more yellow/orange than run-of-the-mill eggs, and the pie came out beige, not that luscious yellow. When the mix was beige I hopped maybe something magic would happen in the bake to turn it that yellow, but no. In any event, a decadant dessert that will impress...just maybe don't expect it to be a visual stunner when its sliced. Curious to read if anyone else made this and got an similar result to the photography.
Laura
San Francisco
9/27/2022
2.5 cups of sugar seems like an extraordinary amount of sugar - was the pie overly sweet?
Brad G
Los Angeles, CA
9/28/2022
Has anyone tried this with honey in place of the sugar in the custard? I'm thinking the flavour combined with the almond flour could be really nice. I'm wondering about how much honey/water to use as a substitute....any ideas?
Anonymous
Canada
9/29/2022
who's yolks = whose yolks, thanks
Grammar teacher
San Antonio
10/2/2022
@Laura: Yeah, I've noticed with the magazine that BA has switched to photography and a color palette that's highly saturated and acid-y. The result is that nothing is true to color anymore. It's their prerogative, of course, and perhaps it's more eye catching in terms of sales/marketing. It's definitely not my preference, but I'm trying to go with the flow...
KR
Seattle, WA
10/3/2022