Apple Crumb Pie

Apple Crumb Pie just like a remembered as a kid. When we would go to my grandmother's house for Sunday dinners, this would be for dessert. She was such a great cook and I am happy to remake this again and again for my family. The tang of the apples goes great with the sweet of the crumb topping as it should. This is her recipe from the quite sizeable box of recipes I received after she passed away. I am happy to share this with everyone and hope it becomes a family favorite also.



You can do a couple twists on this recipe as I have experimented with in the past, such as adding raisins or dried cranberries to the apples to give more texture and a different taste to this old classic. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream or turn this into a caramel apple pie, it doesn't matter; it still tastes wonderful however you prepare it. My youngest daughter loves this with just a dollop of whipped cream and it is fabulous! So enjoy the recipe, and comment back with any twists you may put on this recipe, I would like to know!

Apple Crumb Pie
(original recipe by my grandmother Audrey Stewart RIP 1912-2008; all tips in parentheses are my own instructions and ideas and not part of the original recipe)

Filling:
5 apples; peeled, cored, sliced (I use granny smith apples because they are most tangy)
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans, that is my favorite nut for pies but you can use whatever nuts you want, if you want)
3 Tbsp butter (not margarine)
Crust:
use your favorite recipe for pie crust, or can use premade pie shells

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line pie plate with crust. Peel, core, and slice apples into large bowl. (in between apples, I sprinkled a little Fruit Fresh and gave it a fast stir to help the apples not to turn brown). Add sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well. Pour apples into pie plate. For topping, mix brown sugar, flour, and nuts in bowl. Cut in butter (make sure it is cold butter) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (about pea sized). Put this mixture on the apples. Wrap foil around edges of crust to prevent burning. Bake 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 25-30 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack.

Extra Variations:
- Add 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries for more flavor and texture, add to the filling.
- If you want icing or a drizzle; a thick powdered sugar icing, cream cheese icing, or a caramel drizzle can be used
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream on top if desired.
- Can be made ahead and frozen; just bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 20 minutes, putting foil on edges for first 40 minutes, then remove and continue baking until done, checking bottom of pie plate for doneness of middle of bottom crust. Adjust times accordingly if needed.

Peaches and Cream Tarts

Here is a great dessert for your sweetheart if they do not like decadent chocolate. (I cannot imagine why someone would not like chocolate but this is a good one and one of my husbands favorites). It utilizes my cream cheese sugar cookie dough for the crust which is located in my Holiday Cookies and Treats category of my blog. It simple and very fast to make. Other variations will follow below.

Peaches and Cream Tarts

Tart shells made from cream cheese sugar cookie dough
vanilla pudding
2 cups sliced peaches (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup sugar
whipped cream
cinnamon sprinkles for the top

Make the cookie dough according the directions in my blog post about Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies Bake in 375 oven for about 12 minutes or until edges barely get browned. Cool on wire racks. Invert out of the tart pans when cooled off.

Meanwhile make pudding according to package directions (I get instant pudding which is fast setting)

Mix the sliced peaches with the sugar; set aside.

To build the tarts:
With an empty shell, fill 1/2 way with pudding. Put in refrigerator to set. About an hour.

Top with peaches, garnish with whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon on top if desired.

Other Variations:
- use strawberries, garnish with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles or shavings
- use blueberries, garnish with finely grated lemon peel
- use raspberries, garnish with chocolate

Pumpkin Pie

You cannot have Thanksgiving dinner without the dessert... which for me is the traditional pumpkin pie with real whipping cream. I do not and will not use cool whip or aerosol whip, I always whip my own for pumpkin pie. With this recipe, it is a little bit richer made with sweetened condensed milk rather than evaporated milk, which is what I did here. Give the top of the pie a shake of nutmeg for some extra flavor.

Pumpkin Pie

1 15 oz can pumpkin (2 cups)
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Crust:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c. shortening
3-4 Tbsp cold water

Directions for crust:
In mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening till pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle one tablespoon water over part of mixture, toss gently with fork. Repeat until all is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface, flatten dough with hands. Roll dough from center to edges, forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin and unroll into 9 inch pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry. Trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate, fold under extra pastry to make a fluted edge.

Directions for filling:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices, and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into pie crust. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish with real whipping cream. Store covered in refrigerator. Sprinkle nutmeg on top of the whipped cream for extra flavor.



Whipping Cream instructions:
Chill bowl and beaters for electric mixer until very cold. Pour whipping cream into bowl and add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/8 cup sugar and whip until cream forms stiff peaks (about 7 minutes). Serve on top of pie or other desserts.

Apple Pie

Here is an old faithful recipe that people have been making for years and years. Apple pie is about as American as you can get; it goes hand in hand with baseball, hot dogs, and the county fair.

This post comes complete with pastry recipe for the crust, apple filling, and my variation of apple pie I made last weekend which is Caramel Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. Let your tastebuds run with wild abandon with this pie as you can make it rather quickly and put just about anything with it to make it even better.

APPLE PIE
Crust for 2 crust pie:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
6 to 7 Tbsp ice cold water

In a bowl, stir together flour and salt, cut in shortening till pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of water over part of mixture, gently toss with a fork and push to side of bowl. Repeat until all mixture is moistened. Divide dough in half and form each half into a ball.
On lightly floured surface, flatten one ball with your hands. Roll dough from center to edges forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin for easy transport to the pie plate, roll out onto pie plate, and trim edges to rin of pie plate.
For top crust, repeat as the bottom crust, cut slits to allow steam to escape when you place top crust onto filling for the pie. Trim top crust 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate so you can pinch edges together for fluted look.

To make a lattice crust, after rolling out top crust, slice into thin strips and weave the strips over and under each other until you get a lattice look and pinch edges together to finish the lattice look. Bake as directed for individual pie recipes. (in this picture, my blackberry pie with lattice crust is shown but it gives you the idea of a lattice pie crust since I did not do this with my apple pie, even though you can do it with apple pie).

Apple Pie Filling:
6 cups apple slices (can use fresh or frozen; when using fresh, it is about 5-7 medium pie apples)
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour

Toss apple slices with sugar and flour, fill bottom pie crust. After top crust is placed on pie, place foil around the edges of pie (not the center) to allow even browning since the edges always brown first. Bake in the oven 25 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and fruit is tender. Makes 8 servings. (directions for frozen fruit fillings below)

Notes:
- When using frozen fruit, let filling sit for 15-30 minutes to let the fruit partially thaw but remaining still a bit icy.
- When baking with frozen fruit, cover edges with foil as usual, bake for 50 minutes before taking the foil off then after removing foil bake 20-30 minutes more or until fruit is tender and crust is golden brown.
- To make a nicer brown color, brush on some melted butter or egg wash on top crust.
- You can use a commercial pie crust already prepared if you are not sure about making your own crust, they work well. I have used these when I have to make a lot of pies, it goes faster when making 3 or more pies.
- You can use different fillings with different kinds of fruits. ( I am working on another blog post about different types of fillings but the pie cooking times are about the same, look for that coming soon)

Variation:
Caramel Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
After pie is baked, serve it with some vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce as shown in picture below.