Apple Crisp Pie

So, I'd like to casually mention that I'm flying down to Grand Cayman tomorrow for a little snorkel trip and I've also started blogging about New Orleans so that you can either be excited for and/or jealous of me and you can go check out my travel photo diary.

We went apple picking last month and we spent $60 on apples. That's thirty pounds of apples. The v. first thing I did with the apples (besides eating them raw) was to make this crisp pie. I love apple crisp but it's just not enough breading for me so I decided to build it on top of a crust.

I thought this was a novel idea but I googled this just now and it turns out, I'm not the first one to make a crisp pie. Oh, the disappointment. I feel as aggressive as Ross Geller did about creating the "got milk" campaign.

Anyway, I used my usual crust and a v. basic crumb topping and it turned out delicious. It's best when it's still warm topped with a generous scoop of ice cream.

Ingredients:
apple pie
½ batch pie dough
5 to 6 apples, peeled and sliced (I like crunchy and slightly tart apples, like Cortland, honeycrisp, pink lady)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup brown sugar
pinch salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons potato starch

crisp topping
¾ cup flour
3 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup cold butter (4 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Start by rolling out the pie crust, forming it into a pie pan, and docking the bottom with a fork. Pre-bake the crust at 425F for 10 minutes and then leave to cool.

While the crust is going, get started on the apples. Peel the apples, cut and core, and then slice thinly.

In a big bowl, combine the apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and potato starch. Toss gently to coat.

Make the easy crumb topping by combining flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in cubes of cold butter, leaving some larger chunks. Then, slowly drizzle in the cream, stirring continuously, until the mixture starts to clump.

Layer the seasoned apples into the pie crust in a kind of "rose pattern" - basically overlap the slices and make concentric circles and tuck apples in the center where they fit - and then sprinkle the top with the crumb topping.

Pop the pie into the oven at 375F for 45 minutes or until you see the juices bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

Let the pie cool until it's no longer piping hot (still warm is when it's best, in my opinion) and grab a slice. I love the crunch of the crumb topping and also the crunch of the pie crust. Prebaking the pie crust helps prevent it from going soggy.

As yummy as this crisp pie is on its own, a little vanilla bean ice cream never hurt anyone, right?

This pie is so good! The filling isn't overly sweet or gummy and really lets the apples shine. And, because the apples are layered into the crust, every bite is uniform. The crumb topping adds a lovely crunchy texture and a hint of sweetness. It's just a classic dessert and I think this would also make a fantastic breakfast (without the ice cream... or with?).

Here's the recipe page: