The original recipe can be found in the NY Times - however as with most things I gave it my own twist. Changed a few things here and there to make it my own.
The name they had for this dish: "Butter Pie". Just makes me think of a mound of butter sitting in a pie shell. Not my idea of appetizing. Yet, it was requested by my dear mother. So the first thing I changed was what to call it. The main ingredients (as you'll see below) are butter and brown sugar. "Brown Sugar" just sounds more appealing than "Butter"...so why not call it a "Brown Sugar" pie.
Then there was the crust. I'll admit this "change" was an accident. The pie crust which was store bought, because who are we fooling here. 7 o'clock on a Wednesday night I'm NOT making a pie crust from scratch.... Anyway the pie crust was only supposed to go into a 8inch pan but I grabbed the 10 inch and so once I pre-baked the crust it came out a little "shrunk"...and more tart like. So there you have it. We went from a "Butter Pie" to a "Brown Sugar Tart" that quick.
Now down to business.
Brown Sugar Tart (aka Butter Pie)
Heat oven to 350.
If you want a tart shell like I ended up with feel free to put that 8inch pre-made crust into a 10inch pan. Otherwise do what you like with the crust (I originally thought of using a graham cracker crust). Just make sure to bake it 15-20 minutes (either weighed down by raw beans or poke holes in the dough to prevent bubbling and puffing).
For the filling you'll need:
6 T. unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 C light brown sugar
1 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1. In a mixer cream butter and brown sugar together until sugar looks like "wet sand"
2. Add salt and vanilla
3. Running mixer, add eggs one at a time and beat until creamy and light (you'll see a difference)
4. Scrape filling into parbaked crust
5. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the top looks dry and browned. "The filling will form a skin and puff slightly, then deflate as it cools and sets."
Let cool at least one hour (or overnight) and serve cold with ice cream or whipped cream.Serves 8-10
