Salted maple pretzel pie

Method

1. To make the pastry, put the flour in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Dollop in the cream cheese, add the egg yolk (reserve the white for the filling) and pulse again until it starts to come together. Bring the dough together with your hands and knead briefly on a dusted work surface until you have a smooth pastry. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry dough to a rough 27cm circle. Use it to line the pie/tart tin, then trim the excess. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5 minutes until dry and light golden.
3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Put the pretzels in a food processor and whizz to a fine crumb. Put the syrup, sugar, egg and reserved egg white in a large bowl and whisk together until combined and creamy. Stir in the cornflour followed by the pretzel crumbs and lemon zest.
4. Pour the filling into the baked pastry case and decorate the edge of the tart with whole pretzels. Bake for 25-30 minutes until just set with a slight wobble in the centre.
5. While the tart is still warm from the oven, sprinkle lightly with sea salt flakes. Serve warm with cream or custard.