French Apple Cream Pie
While I am a self-professed beach lover and sun worshipper, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I LOVE Fall. And I don’t just mean I like it a little. I LOVE it. LOVE.
“Have you hit your head?” you might ask. NO! There’s just something about that first nip in the air … wearing jeans … and cozy sweaters and the season’s first crackle in the fireplace. There’s something wonderfully comforting about warming up with a hot bowl of soup, wonderful roasted stews and veggies. And apples! What would Fall be without APPLES?
Oh! I love them. I eat apples all year ‘round, but Fall is especially tempting for me, because every crispy, sweet, juicy variety is here and just waiting for me to crunch into them.
Just their names make me happy. Granny Smith. Pink Lady. Fuji. Mutsu. Honeycrisp (OH! The Honeycrisp — maybe the greatest apple in the history of apples.) Jonathan. It’s all enough to make your mouth water with sweet, Autumnal delight.
There are so many to choose from, you might be at a loss to decide WHICH apples are right for your needs. Since, at this time of year, so many people want to bake them in pies, crisps and the like, let’s focus on the best varieties for that. The best baking apples have a good sweet-tart balance and their flesh won’t break down as they cook. If you want to prepare a dish that’s got complex textures and flavors, try combining two or more apple varieties.
While there are LOTS of apples that are fine for baking, some stand up better than others. Some to look for are: Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Macoun, Mutsu (aka Crispin), Stayman & Winesap.
Now that you’ve got your apples and are ready to tackle some serious baking, here’s one of my favorite recipes of all-time. It’s for the apple pie that my mom made when I was a kid, and that I adopted (and tweaked) when she went back to work. It’s different from any other pie you’ve ever eaten, I assure you, and once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back to “just pie”. Enjoy!
French Apple Cream Pie
Ingredients
- (2) 9″ pie crusts (you can make your own OR use the chilled kind that you unroll — that’s almost as good as from-scratch).
- Filling: 4 pounds apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Crispin, Stayman — your choice), peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Topping: 3 oz. softened** cream cheese1/4 cup sour cream1 egg1/3 cup sugar1 tablespoon lemon juice1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Lightly beaten egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water
- Cinnamon-Sugar for dusting on top of crust
**MAKE SURE THAT YOUR CREAM CHEESE IS SOFTENED, OR YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE IT SMOOTH, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY.**
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Unroll 1 pie crust (if using refrigerated), place into a deep dish pie plate.
- In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss to coat the apples with the other ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. Pour into prepared pie shell.
- Mix together ingredients for topping until smooth. Pour over apple mixture.
- Place remaining pie crust on top and crimp to seal the edges. Brush the top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool completely before serving.
Sweet, creamy, rich and satisfying, this apple pie represents everything that I adore about Fall. It’s everything that I want Fall to be. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Melissa DelGaudio is a self-professed food lover & apple junkie. When she’s not slicing up goodness here at Prime Cuts, she’s the Big Apple over at Honeybee Consulting, where she bakes up sweet marketing strategies for her clients. Visit her there, or check her out over on Twitter, where she’s often flakier than her pie crust.
