Marty’s Muskoka Maple Pie

I’m blogging about pastry today at Accidental Hedonist. Since I was testing a new recipe and had to fill the crust with something, I chose Muskoka Maple Pie from Marty Curtis’s World Famous Cookbook: Secrets from the Muskoka Landmark Café.

I have a soft spot for the Muskoka’s (aka Ontario’s Cottage Country), having spent many summer vacations there with my friend Joanne. Since, as the Travel Muskoka site says, this region is the size of a small European country, it should be no surprise the pie bearing its name is large enough to feed a minor nation.

You see, the recipe’s creator, Marty Curtis, likes things big. His $15 Grilled Cheese sandwich towers, his butter tarts are the size of a softballs and his Big Ass pies are… big ass. They’re 16 inches wide, 4 inches deep and hold the equivalent of two, count ‘em, TWO 10-inch, deep-dish pies.

While his pies are impressive, I find Marty himself inspiring. Despite being extremely clear he’s not a chef, Marty’s earned kudos from The Food Network’s Chef Michael Smith and caught the attention of Mario Batali. Oh, there’s hope for me yet.

If that thought isn’t sweet enough, here’s his recipe for pie. Consider it a brush with greatness.

Marty’s Muskoka Maple Pie
Printable recipe

Excerpted with permission from Marty’s World Famous Cookbook: Secrets from the Muskoka Landmark Café (page 174)Whitecap Books

Makes 1 single-crust Big Ass Pie or two 10-inch, deep dish pies (Note: Recipe can be halved.)

Marty says: When we introduced this pie to our customers it was an instant hit. After people finish a piece in the café, they often take a piece home for other members of their family. One couple even doubled-back one and a half hours out of their way while on their vacation to pick up another piece. Give it a try.

Crust Ingredients:

1 recipe Century-Old Nuns’ Pastry Dough

Filling Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 2¼ cups pure maple syrup
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 1½ cups brown sugar, packed
• 1½ cups 2% milk
• 1½ cups butter, melted
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flaked or shredded sweetened coconut
• 2¼ cups rolled oats
• 1½ cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Prepare a pie shell using two-thirds of the pastry dough. Place the pie shell in a Marty’s pan. (Freeze the remaining one-third of the dough for later use.) OR use one-third per 10-inch, deep dish pie plate.
3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, maple syrup, sugars, milk, butter, and vanilla.
4. Mix in the coconut, oats, and walnuts and pour into the unbaked pie shell. Bake for 60–75 minutes for Marty’s pan or 45-50 minutes for 10-inch pies. Cook until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan.
5. Serve slightly warm with fresh whipped cream and then sit back and watch what happens. Enjoy.

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