Apple Honey Custard Pie

This recipe is inspired by the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. We used Flaky Butter Pastry from Apple of Your Pie by Eileen Maher Kronauer. If you love custard AND apple pies, this is the right recipe to try as fall approaches. A warm, soothing custard really adds to the familiar apple pie flavor. Substitute maple syrup as the sweetener for a positively New England experience.

Ingredients:

Crust (makes two shells - either make two pies at once or freeze for later)

  • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 1 Tbs sugar

  • 15 Tbs cold, unsalted butter cut into ½ in. pieces

  • 1 large egg, slightly beaten

  • 8-10 Tbs ice water

Filling

  • 2 cups apples, cored, and sliced

  • 4 large eggs

  • ¾ cup honey

  • 1 cup yogurt

  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • ½ tsp cinnamon

  • ¼ tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Crust - Combine flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry knife or your hands, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-sized bits. Refrigerate 10 minutes to chill.

  2. Whisk together the eggs and water in a small bowl. Add three Tbs of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir with a wooden spoon. Continue adding the egg mixture one Tbs at a time, stirring after each addition, until the dough begins to clump together. Form dough into two balls, and flatten each into 4-inch disks. Wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  3. Roll out one of the doughs from the center, rotating with every roll to ensure an even circle. Transfer to a pie plate, trimming and decorating the edges as desired. Save the other dough for another day.

  4. Filling - Preheat oven to 375˚.

  5. Spread the apple slices evenly over the unbaked pie shell.

  6. Combine remaining ingredients in a blender, and run at high speed for several seconds. Pour the custard over the apples. Sprinkle on some chopped nuts (walnuts or almonds recommended), if desired.

  7. Bake 45 minutes or until firm. Cool to room temperature before cutting.