For example, when I set out to make a pie yesterday, I thought the bright-pink stalks that were poking out of a plastic bag in the fridge were rhubarb. I made it through two of the three major steps to prepare a Deep-dish Rhubard Crisp Pie when I realized these stalks had massive leaves attached to the hidden ends. It was Swish Chard. Not quite the same.
So, I had a lovely maple & oat crust all baked and a top-crumble chilling in the fridge, but nothing to put in between. It was then that I decided to kill two birds and make a "get-rid-of-the-aging-fruit" pie. I had wrinkly apricots and more cherries than could be eaten by two. So, while I pitted 50+ sweet cherries, I googled "summer cherry pie," found a recipe, totally modified it, and came out with this:
All in all, a beautiful disaster, if I may say. I shall call it, Sweet Cherry and Apricot Crunch Pie.
Let me consolidate my ridiculous process for you.
The Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350º.
1 bottom crust (Either make or buy your favorite pie dough. I love Pilsbury's pie dough and I like to have it around just for these occasions . . . when I'm feeling lazy and hungry)
1 Tbs. REAL maple syrup
1/4 c. cold water
2 Tbs. rolled oats
Press your bottom crust into a deep-dish pie plate (or a regular one if you want to fold over the top for a thicker edge).
Can you see a little puppy keeping me company?
Cover the pie crust with parchment paper. Place a second, similarly sized pie plate over the parchment to weigh down the crust.
Place entire contraption in the bottom third of the oven and bake until crust is set, about 10 minutes. Remove the additional pie plate and parchment paper. Whisk the Maple Syrup and the Cold Water together. Brush sides and bottom of the crust with the maple glaze (not the edges). While it's still wet, sprinkle the oats evenly around the crust.
Bake the dough for an additional 15 minutes or until just golden.
Resist the urge to eat this plain with some ice cream.
The Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs. corn starch
The juice from 1 lime
1 - 2 Tbs. lime zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 lb. pitted sweet cherries
4 apricots (over-ripe if you have them :), peeled, pitted and sliced into 1/2 inch crescents
In a small bowl, measure and stir together the first 6 ingredients.
Put all fruit into a medium bowl.
Stir the sugar mixture gently into the fruit until well distributed. Allow to sit for half an hour.
I supplemented with an aging peach that was lying around, too.
The Topping:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
6 Tbs. chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Increase your oven temperature to 400º.
Measure first four ingredients into a medium bowl.
Using a fork, mix them together and ensure there are no brown sugar clumps.
Cut in the butter pieces until well incorporated.
Now to combine your elements.
Place your fruit into the bottom crust.
Get ready to crumble.
Distribute your topping evenly over the fruit and press down gently to seal.
Finally, cover your crust edges with a bit of foil to avoid additional browning.
25 Thanksgivings in, I'm pretty good at the foil wrapping.
Bake in the bottom third of the oven for about 45 minutes or until the topping has browned and you can hear the filling bubbling.
Remove the foil and allow to cool a bit before eating. This topping gets really nice and crunchy and the two fruits, along with the lime juice, really go well together. It's my first cherry pie!
grace, i don't even like pie, and this still looks great :)
ReplyDeleteYou were always good at improvisation! Well done!
ReplyDeleteI ate the last piece on Friday and the degree of yumaliciosity on the fourth day was so great, I pale to think of how excellent it might have been on the first, right out of the oven.
ReplyDeleteI had wrinkly, almost-too-ripe peaches in my fridge tonight. I was about to throw them out when I remembered this post! I peeled and sliced them, sprinkled on some sugar, flour, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Then I made your topping for apple crisp and heaped that on top of the peaches. Baked it, topped it with some vanilla ice cream...and ate way too much of it! Delicious! Thanks for the inspiration...
ReplyDelete