My favorite corgi on Instagram passed away on Monday. It’s sort of weird to admit this but I cried…like kinda cried myself to sleep. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it had to do with all the other sad stuff in the world, my sad family stuff that I never talk about or maybe it had to do with the fact that Loki the corgi was only five years old and that’s not that much older than Amelia. In the name of sadness, let’s make a Asian Pear Apple Pie. 🙁
I dunno what it is but I know that I squeezed her really hard that night and yesterday I gave her a cookie I shouldn’t have (the vet says she needs to lose 1 to 2 pounds).
I nearly took the rest of the week off from posting but then I remembered that’s silly and that I have this Asian Pear Apple Pie and so many other good things to share with you.
Last week I made another pie where I took little bits of apple and folded them around one another to make roses and it seriously took me like 3 hours but I didn’t really mind one bit because I just zoned out and thought about all sorts of stuff.
I think I enjoy this process…building and assembling, building and assembling. I enjoy methodical, repetitive things, especially when they pertain to pie.
I’ve been wanting to make a basket weave-ish kind of pie topping. I think I did it with this. It’s actually MUCH simpler than it looks because you basically just cut the pie crusts in smaller strips and then place them side-by-side like you would one singular strip.
A big tip, put the sheet of pie crust on a cutting board and chill them for 10 minutes. This makes it easier to slice AND move around.
Asian Pears Are Amazing!
I actually had never put Asian pears in a pie before. I kinda thought maybe they wouldn’t work all that well. It turns out, they’re amazing in a pie.
They’re pretty floral so their floral quality works well with apple. I added some creme fraiche, brown sugar, ginger, a pinch of salt and vanilla to this pie.
The creme fraiche and brown sugar cook together, creating almost like a caramel of sorts in the pie. IT IS SO GOOD. AND, MUCH EASIER THAN MAKING CARAMEL.
I learned this little trick when Nicole and I were recipe testing for our upcoming pie workshop and she suggested we add sour cream to the inside of the pie.
I’d never tried it (I think she had). And the results were literally like an apple caramel pie. It was AMAZING. Try it the next time you make an apple pie, or better yet, try this one.
Asian Pear Pie and Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 peeled firm Asian pears cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 2 to 3 small apples I used Pink Lady but Gala, Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious are all good!, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- Pinch of salt
- 2 homemade or store-bought pie crusts
- 1 large egg beaten, for egg wash
- 1 to 2 teaspoons turminado sugar as topping
Instructions
- To a medium bowl, mix together the sliced pears, apples, brown sugar, creme fraiche or sour cream, flour, ginger, lemon juice and salt. Set aside.
- Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll out the first pie crust, rotating and flouring it every so often so it doesn’t stick to the surface, to a 13-inch circle. Roll the dough over the rolling pin and place it over a 9-inch pie dish. Transfer to the fridge while you roll out the second pie crust.
- Roll out the second disk of dough and create a topping however you like. Do a normal lattice, an intricate lattice, make braids. The possibilities are endless, just remember that the freezer is your friend. If your pie dough ever becomes too soft to manage, be sure to put it on a cutting board and stick it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. It’ll instantly become easier to work with.
- Remove the pie dish from the fridge and pour in the filling, including all the juices that the pears and apples have released—this is the good stuff! Place the pie crust on the top however you like and seal it up! Transfer the whole pie to the freezer for about 20 minutes (this will firm it up and eliminate the possibility of shrinking like crazy).
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pie on a baking sheet and brush it with egg wash and sprinkle the top with turminado sugar. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the pie is lightly golden brown. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
- Allow the pie to cool for at least 30 minutes, if you’re impatient. If you want sliceable slices that stay in tact, allow the pie to cool for 2 to 3 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
I made this pie using sour cream. Unfortunately the sour cream curdled leaving a weird appearance to the final slices. The pie has a weird texture with lumpy sour cream. The cook times on this are maybe a bit short to get the golden dark color on the crust. I would need to play with cool times with sour cream as it is delicate to work with.
I just made this pie and the flavor is excellent. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of liquid. Does this have to do with the apples and pears themselves? (I added the 3 tablespoons of flour.)
Trying this today and the recipe didn’t have vanilla listed so I didn’t use it. I hope it still comes out good! Fingers crossed.