Apple Crumb Pie

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You may recall that Paul and I went apple picking a few weeks ago. Of there 30 pounds of apples that we picked there are about 5 pounds left. Before I went away I came to the sudden realization that we were soon to be out of apples and I had yet to bake a single apple pie!

GASP

This could not be allowed to continue.

I found this recipe at the wonderful blog Cream Puffs in Venice. Ivonne, the blogger extraordinaire, is an amazing baker and churns out incredible things; if she recommended it I knew that all would be wonderful. I wasn't sure about the combination of orange flavour with the apples but I just thought - trust Ivonne. I did and it was amazing!

For the filling:

6 or 7 apples, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. finely grated orange zest
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Combine all the filling ingredients (except the butter) in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide in half. Put half in the refrigerator for another pie.

Flour a work surface and gently roll the dough into an 11-inch round (it should be about 1/8th to a 1/4-inch thick). Use a light touch with the dough as you don’t want to overwork it.

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate or pie tin. Trim the excess dough and crimp the edges decoratively or simply roll them under so that you have an even edge.

Take the prepared filling and pack it into crust. Dot the filling with the butter and then put the pie in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the crumb topping:

1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

While the pie is in the refrigerator, mix all of the topping ingredients together, rubbing the butter into the flour/sugar mixture until you have a very crumbly topping.

Once the pie has chilled, sprinkle the topping evenly over the pie.

Bake the pie in the centre of the oven on a baking sheet to avoid any spills. The pie usually takes about an hour and ten minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s done when the crust and topping are golden and the apple filling begins to bubble through the topping.

Comments

[Barbara]

This sounds worth a try! I love the addtion of the orange zest AND the Grand Marnier. Thanks for sharing!

[Jerry]

Og course Barb, everything is bette with Grand Marnier! LOL

[Kim]

I'm a sucker for all apple desserts. We went apple picking last Sunday for the second (and the last) time this season. Got winesaps - it was all that was left. I made Brussel sprouts with apples and red onions the other night (from the Nov CL issue) but haven't done any baking yet. Maybe I'll do a pie on Sunday, hmmm...

[Jerry]

Kim - you just reminded me of one of my favourite fall dishes - braised red cabbage with apples and red onions - YUM

[Kim]

Ooh - I do that red cabbage dish too - what's your recipe?

Think I'll go post the sprouts recipe on my blog in a bit - you should try it; it was good.

[Jerry]

Thanks Kim - I'll look there. I've got some sprouts in the fridge so that would be great!