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
Ingredients
8–10 servings
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 TopThis is a great pie. It's quite sweet, and goes great with coffee or a strong tea. And I'm happy it used up most of the almond flour I had that I didn't know what to do with. It's great for dessert or for breakfast with coffee. It's not exactly a custard in my mind as it holds together much better. I don't know what people in the comments are complaining about. I followed the recipe exactly (with a scale) and it came out great. Maybe their oven temps are off or something... anyway, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones this came out really good. I will say though, there are a few things to be mindful of. (1) The syrup that's made is extremely concentrated. Coming from my experience making syrups for cocktails, this syrup is only meta-stable and once cool it's only a matter of time before it crystallizes... you can only really go up to a 2:1 sugar:water ratio and this is closer to 2.5:1, which is very concentrated. Mine started to crystallize a bit after having fully cooled, but it all gets blended together, so in the end it's really no big deal, just don't make this more than a few hours ahead or use while it's still body-temperature. (2) I used a Vitamix on turbo for 1 minute and as expected, it gets a bit toasty in there. You do not want to push this for more than necessary if you're using a Vitamix as you will begin to denature/cook the egg... as a result the warm filling cooked a little faster than expected, which was ultimately fine because I was aware it was warm and I'd need to compensate (3) I'm not sure if it's because I used a Vitamix or not but this puppy RISES. It doesn't overflow thankfully, but it was a bit concerning when I pulled it out that it wouldn't deflate/level out. It looked like one of those dome cakes from those infomercials in the early '00s. But over the hour or so of cooling it became completely level and shortly after was easy to cut. I'd make this again. It's fun and different, albeit a lil caloric... but then again, what dessert isn't?
Doug
3/24/2024
Too too sweet. Did not turn out looking like photo. Did not deliver promised flavors.BA recipes have become increasingly unreliable. That's why I am cancelling my subscription. Will miss the stories but it's becoming a waste of paper. AND your website refuses to recognize my paid subscription. Bye.
Anonymous
10/8/2023
Very easy and yummy! I couldn't get the top as dark, but it was still good. The top almost had a meringue-like flavor. I would recommend extra almond extract! It is very sweet
Sage
2/7/2023
I was nervous while making this pie that a filling made of just almonds, eggs, and sugar would be boring. But it turned out fantastic! The top didn't get very dark, but the crust browned nicely and texture and flavor of the filling were lovely. I had to add11-12 teaspoons of water to the crust to make it just barely hold together, but it still came out wonderfully flaky. I also used more almond extract (1 whole teaspoon) because I love the flavor. A great Thanksgiving dessert! And much easier to make than most almond pastries.
Laura C
Santa Barbara, CA
11/26/2022
Old news. The folks at Cooks Illustrated did this over 15 years ago
johnny
11/5/2022
I was excited to try this since my family loves anything almond and this seemed like they would enjoy it. It was easy to make and had no issues with the recipe, but GOOD LORD, it's just too much. It's WAY TOO SWEET, and the texture is like polenta which was weird and off-putting to me. I don't think I have passionately hated a dessert as much as I hate this recipe. I think the only way it could even remotely work is if you cut the filling amount down by a third and poured it into an inch high tart shell. Then once baked and cooled, top it with a thin layer of pastry cream and a bunch of fresh fruit. The tartness of the fruit (I'm thinking strawberries, kiwi, mandarin orange segments, raspberries) would offset the insane sweetness of the filling. But honestly I have no intention of making this again, ever. My almond-loving family gave it a big thumbs down as well, so it's not just me. I'm also mad that I wasted 2 1/2 cups of expensive almond flour on this thing that ended up in my compost pile. You've been warned!
Val Anne Welch
Port Townsend, WA
10/26/2022
I had this (or something very similar) as a tart while traveling in Spain and have longed for it ever since! I'm excited to find this recipe.
Anonymous
10/25/2022
Unbelievable. Perfect texture, almond flavor without being overpowering, and went beautifully with some added whipped cream on top. New top contender for a Thanksgiving dessert.
Anonymous
Washington, DC
10/7/2022
@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
who's yolks = whose yolks, thanks
Grammar teacher
San Antonio
10/2/2022
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
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
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
@ 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
What 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