FALL!!! It is here and in full force at our house.
Mums, pumpkins and gourds, bushels of apples, boozy apple cider, crisp air, sweaters, warm colors speckling the trees, and pumpkin spice everything! EEK! I love it all!
But what better way to get in the Fall spirit than by making your house feel warm and cozy with the aroma of a warm apple pie cooling on your counter? Lighting that Autumnal scented candle just won't hold a flame (pun fully intended) next to this beauty of a pie.
Go put on your boots, crunch through those fallen leaves, and pick up some apples for the pie that your friends and family will be talking about for days.
Apple Cream & Crumb Pie
adapted from The Baker Chick
Preheat oven to 375ยบ
Apple Mix:
- 5 cups tart apples (I used a combination of Cortland, Jonagold, & Mutsu)
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 tsp. apple pie spice
Peel and slice your apples. Cut slices into large chunks. In a light bottom pan, melt and brown your butter over a medium heat. Stir constantly and remove from heat once butter gives off a nutty aroma and you have brown butter bits. Stir in your pie spice and then add apples. Return to heat and coat your apples with spice and butter mix, cooking for 5-7 minutes until apples soften slightly.
Set aside.
Cream Mix:
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla paste (vanilla extract can be substituted)
In a large bowl, combine sugars, flour, and salt. Be sure to break up any lumps. In another bowl, whisk together cream, egg, and vanilla bean paste. Slowly whisk cream mixture into your flour/sugar mix and whisk until smooth.
Set aside.
Crumb mix:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed
In a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients until combined. Add cold, cubed butter and pulse until you have a sandy mix with pea-size pieces of butter. Transfer to bowl and use fingers to create larger crumb pieces. Place in fridge while you start to assemble your pie...
Using your favorite pie crust recipe, roll out crust into a 9 inch pie plate, trim, and crimp your edges. Add your apple mix. Slowly pour cream mix over apples. Top evenly with crumb mix.
Place pie in your preheated oven, and if desired, place a cookie sheet on the rack directly below your pie to prevent an oven mess if your cream mix boils over.
Bake for approx. 45 minutes. You should have a nice brown crust and crumb with your filling bubbling.
Place pie on a cooling rack. Serve warm and a la mode if you desire!
