Autumn Surprise Pie

This autumn surprise pie reminds me of a holiday apple pie. The blend of apples, pears, and cranberries with a touch of rum flavoring is delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream. To be honest, the pictures that you are seeing is the second pie I made of this style. I am not a fan of lattice crusts. I did a lattice crust on the first one and some of the apples didn’t cook completely. So, in the second pie I made and the pictures you see, I decided to take the liberty and bake this pie as a double crusted pie. I like the idea of the apples and fruit being steamed to perfection inside the two crusts. I did make this pie in a 9-inch glass pan. A stoneware deep dish would also work, just increase the cooking time a bit.  This pie is so delicious.  The fruit sliced and diced to perfection and the blend of pecans and cranberries, this pie will remind you of a mincemeat pie.  You will find yourself sneaking to the kitchen for just another small slice and before you know it, the pie is gone!!  Enjoy!!

Pie Hint: 

I used the apple peeler and corer found at Kitchen Kneads. This gadget makes uniform sizes of apples all peeled and cored perfectly. This is a must for a kitchen.  I also used a chopper and diced the pears all the same shape. Using these 2 gadgets not only made the pie come together quicker, but the filling is beautiful.

Autumn Surprise Pie

• Double crusted pie shell for 9-inch pie
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 5 cups sliced, peeled apples
• 2 cups diced peeled ripe pears 
• 1/3 cup naturally sweetened cranberries
• 1/4 chopped pecans
• ¾ teaspoon rum extract
• 1 egg white whipped or milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add apples, pears, cranberries, pecans and mix to combine. Add extract, stir to combine. Spoon into crust, filling in any gaps.
3. Use the second pie shell to lay over the top. While the pie shell is laid over the top, press down to pack in the filling. This will eliminate a puffed crust with a hollow space. Roll the top crust under the bottom crust, pinch the 2 crusts together, and flute the edges. Brush top of pie with whipped egg white OR milk.  Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
4. Bake on lower oven rack for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Use pie shields last 10 minutes of baking if necessary. Cool on wire rack.