The shortest distance between Knoxville, Tennessee and Ashville, North Carolina is route 129, AKA “The Tail of the Dragon.” This is a white-knuckle, winding, hilly, two- lane back road with 318 turns in 11 miles. The road runs through the Smoky Mountains and Cherokee National Forest, and the views are spectacular, if you do not mind the scary sensation of looking down where there are no guard rails between you and terra firma. This road is a favorite of motorcyclists who love the challenges of the curves. The “tail” more or less ends at Tapaco Lodge, where we stopped to have lunch with friends and regroup. The restaurant was not serving pie that day…. “maybe tomorrow,” so we continued with our friends down the highway to Robbinsville, North Carolina to visit Wehrloom Honey.
Wehrloom Honey is a family-run, all natural, chemical-free beekeeping business. Jessica and Erin (and Bob and Becky) showed us around their property and tutored us in the complexities of bee keeping, honey extracting and infusing, and making the honey-based soaps, lotions, and candle
s which they sell in their shop. The shop also sells raw honey, flavor-infused honey, irresistible locally made gifts, and not surprising, the trophy “tail of the dragon” t-shirt. We had a quick honey fix with a “honey-tube” as our sweet reward for surviving the drive on Highway 129 and bought jars of honey to take home for making honey pies.
Wehrloom Honey is a “destination” bee education center and store. The “pollinator path” ends in a glassed-in observatory where visitors can observe the bees in their hives. Wehrloom has hives scattered throughout the area, and also sells nucleus colonies and queen bees. Raising healthy bees depends on so many uncontrollable factors, and we were impressed with the need to have large areas of chemical-free plants in which the bees can range. Our fruit pies depend on having healthy pollinators! There is a Million Pollinator Gardens Challenge web site, http://millionpollinatorgardens.org/ on which people can register their chemical-free flower gardens that attract pollinators. If you can, take the challenge!
At home, with jars of honey, I searched for recipes that featured honey. I ended up making 2 recipes as it was hard to choose just one. The recipe for the Lavender Custard Pie uses 4 drops of lavender oil which made me think of walking through lavender fields in France while the pie was in the oven. The pie “tastes” like lavender, but then I wondered, just what does lavender taste like? I think I was taking in the good aroma that still lingered in the kitchen.
The salted honey pie was our favorite. The salt on top offsets the sweetness of the honey. Both pies require a dry white wine to play off the sweetness. We chose a Vino Verde, the young, spring wine from Portugal.
People to meet:
*Jessica (and Erin, Bob, Becky) the proprietors of Wehrloom Honey. Th
e entire family is very knowledgeable about raising bees and making honey and is eager to share their experiences with visitors.
Places to stay:
* Tapaco Lodge, http://www.tapocolodge.com. This restaurant and lodge are at the southern end of Highway 129, nestled in national forests of Graham County, NC. The restaurant overlooks a stream, which occasionally is dammed up for river rafting expeditions, and serves local fish and produce.
Places to visit:
* Wehrloom Honey, 257 Colvin Road, Robbinsville, NC. Phone 828-735-2300 http://www.wehrloom.com Visitors can sample the infused honeys, soaps and lotions, and stock up on favorites.
Pies to try:
* Lavender Honey Custard Pie. There are many steps and “technique” in making this pie, but each is worth the extra time it takes to make this pie. The topping is sugared lavender from my garden.
* Salted Honey Pie. This pie makes good use of honey, which now is easily found at most local farmers markets. This is another custard pie, with a hint of vanilla from the vanilla paste.
- Crust for a single 9 inch pie, partially pre-baked
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1 Tbsp stone-ground white cornmeal
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- ⅔ cup lavender honey
- 3 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 4 drops food-grade lavender oil
- Candied lavender flowers to garnish
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place the prebaked pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornmeal and salt. Whisk in the melted butter, followed by the honey. Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the heavy cream, lemon juice, and lavender oil and whisk well to combine.
- Strain the filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; pour into the pie shell. Place the pie on a rack in the center of the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes and then rotate the pie 180 degrees and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes. The edges of the pie should be set and puffed slightly, and the center of the pie is not liquid but is a bit wobbly. Do not overbake. Allow pie to cool for 2-3 hours. The pie will keep at room temperature for one day, or 2 days in the refrigerator.
- Candied Lavender Flowers
- Tbsp dried lavender flowers
- tsp water
- Tbsp granulated sugar
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- Pour the flowers into a small bowl and sprinkle wth the water; fluff with a fork. Pour the moistened flowers into a sieve and shake off excess water. Sprinkle with sugar ½ teaspoon at a time, shaking to distribute the sugar. Tap the sieve to shake off excess sugar. Spread on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool and break up clumps to sprinkle on the pie. The candied flowers will keep indefinitely in an airtight container.
- Crust for a 9 inch single crust pie, crimped and frozen
- ¼ pound unsalted butter melted
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1Tbsp white cornmeal
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- ¾ cup honey
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 1-2 tsp flake sea salt
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter, sugar, cornmeal, salt and vanilla paste. Stir in the honey and eggs one at a time followed by the heavy cream and vinegar.
- Place the frozen pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet. Strain the filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and then pour into the pie shell.
- Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes and then rotate 180 degrees and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The edges of the pie will be set and the pie will be puffed high in the center, but is no longer liquid. Cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours. Sprinkle with flake sea salt. Serve warm or at room temperature; keeps 2 days at room temperature or 4 days refrigerated.
