First Pie of the Season

A couple of weeks ago, while Mom was at Grandma's, she called looking for a raspberry pie recipe from the cookbook that Rachel got from Aunt Fay (a really cool old cookbook that Rachel found another copy of and copied all of Aunt Fay's notes into and gave to me as a gift, one of the most thoughtful and creative gifts I have ever been given). There weren't any that really fit what she was looking for. But we picked a blueberry pie recipe to substitute with raspberries. I forgot to ask how it turned out, it sounded good though.

This made me start thinking about pie, my favorite dessert to both bake and eat. Last weekend, Frank invited some friends over to play dominoes and promised dessert. With fall in the air and pie on the mind, I found a Cranberry Apricot Surprise Pie recipe to make. The pie crust recipe included with the pie required resting in the fridge overnight so I decided to make my current favorite All American Pie crust.

The pie was delicious. Cait said it tasted like thanksgiving. Every last piece of the pie was eaten before the evening was over. I loved the hint of almond extract in the cranberry filling, but I think I cut the apricots too small, because they weren't detectible in the strong cranberry flavor. Next time, I will only cut them in half, so that they are in larger more discernable pieces. This is the first time that I have made a crumb with vanilla in it, but it was really good, you couldn't even tell it was made with whole wheat flour. I can see this becoming my new favorite crumb recipe. Also I meant to take a picture of a slice before serving but I forgot. This is a shame, because it was really pretty with three distinct layers.

Cran-Apricot Surprise Pie
From King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

Your favorite pie crust recipe

Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 pinches of salt
1 large egg

Fruit Filling:
Heaping 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Crumb topping:
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons cold butter

• Prepare your favorite pie crust recipe. Roll out and place in 9-inch pie pan. Trim and crimp the edges. Chill crust in the fridge while you prepare the filling.



• Cheesecake filling: Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla salt an egg in a mixing bowl and beat slowly until the mixture is nearly smooth.



• Fruit filling: Combine the cranberries, dried apricots, sugar, water and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is syrupy and nearly all absorbed, 18 - 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the extracts salt and butter.



• Crumb topping: Whisk together the flour, oats, nuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Cut the butter into small cubes, and work into the dry ingredients (I used my fingers), till the mixture is evenly crumbly.



• Assemble and bake: Preheat the oven to 375. Remove the crust from the fridge. Spoon the cream cheese filling into the bottom. Gently dollop the fruit filling on top. Sprinkle with the crumb topping, spreading it evenly over the fruit. Bake the pie until it's bubbly and the streusel and crust are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and wait at least an hour before cutting.