Apple-Pear Pie Recipe
Written by CMP on November 29, 2008I've never been much of a baker.
That is, I enjoy the free-form-ed-ness of cooking over the science of baking. I still don't know when to use baking powder over baking soda and so most of my baking begins with a cookbook. This pie began with The Algonquin's Famous Apple Pie recipe found in The New York Cookbook by Molly O'Neill. I was short an ingredient here and there, thought a couple lonely pears I had would be much happier alongside some apples and cinnamon, and the result was something I was quite happy with.
Maybe there's a baker in me after all.
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 Cups White Flour
- 1 Tbs White Sugar
- 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
- 1/2 Vegetable Shortening (solid)
- 1/2 Cup COLD water
Filling
- 6 Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced.
- 2 Pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
- 7 Tbs White Sugar
- 3 Tbs Light Brown Sugar
- Zest from 1 Orange
- 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp Fresh Grated Nutmeg
- 4 Tbs Butter, cut into small pieces
To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Using two forks or a pastry cutter, cut the shortening and butter into the flour mixture until it resembles small peas. Add the water, a little at a time, and mix just enough until the crust comes together. Form into two equal sized balls, cover with saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 450 Degrees.
Roll out one ball of dough to about 13-inches in diameter and place in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Add the apples and pears. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest - then sprinkle over the top of the apples/pears. Dot the fruit with 3 Tbs of butter.
Roll out the second ball of dough to the same size as the first and cover the pie. Using a fork, press the edges of the two crusts together. Then, using a paring knife, cut away any excess dough hanging over the edges.
Mix together an additional 1 Tbs of White Sugar and 1 Tbs of White Flour. Sprinkle over the top of the pie then dot with the remaining 1 Tbs of butter. Using your paring knife, cut several little slits in the top pie crust to avoid a pie-explosion.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes.
Serve warm or cold, preferably with vanilla ice cream.
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