Apple Custard Pie

A delicious variation on the classic apple pie. With a cup of hot coffee in the morning, sublime!

To start, remove two eggs from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature.

Next, place the butter in a mixing bowl with the sugar and soften for the batter.

Cut the butter into small cubes for the pie crust and place it in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

For the pie crust, prepare the flour by placing it in the work bowl of a stand mixer.

Measure out the sugar and add to the flour.

Measure out the salt and add to the flour/sugar mix.

To this, add the lard or shortening to the flour mix.

Finally, add the frozen butter cubes to the rest of the pie crust ingredients. Use the paddle attachment with the power on low and mix the ingredients.

Stop mixing once the ingredients are incorporated, and the crust mix has the consistency of sand or lumpy meal.

Add the cold milk to the mixture and again with the paddle attachment mix on low.

Stop mixing after (1-2 minutes) the pastry dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough.

Form the pastry dough into a disk and wrap it with plastic wrap, and place it into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or more before attempting to roll out.

To start the apple filling, first place a steamer basket into a medium-sized pot. To this, add 1 cup of water and place over low heat.

While the water is slowly heating on the stove, peel, core, and slice the apples.

You don’t need to purchase an apple peeler, but I use mine always since I have apple trees on my property. It makes it easy since it peels, slices, and cores all in one motion. However, you can easily do this with a knife if you wish.

Next, core and slice the apples and place them in the steamer basket in the pot with the hot water. Cover with a lid and increase the heat to medium-high. Steam the apples for 10 minutes. Afterward, remove them from the pan and allow them to cool in a separate mixing bowl. (Tip* You can save the water under the apples. Add 1 tsp of sugar to this mix and reduce it to a syrup.)

Once the apples have cooled, add the apple pie spice. Gently fold it into the apple slices.

Gently fold the spices into the apple slice and reserve.

To make the custard/batter for the pie, start by mixing the sugar and softened butter. Start on low at first and then gradually increase the speed to medium and mix the sugar and butter for about 2-3 minutes.

Crack the two whole eggs into a container, making sure all eggshells.

Add the eggs one at a time and incorporate them into the sugar and butter mixture. Beat the mixture for at least 1 minute before adding the second egg. Continue to beat the mixture for an additional minute. The mixture should look pale yellow and be fully incorporated before adding the rest of the ingredients.

To this, add the all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder.

Next, add the vanilla extract and heavy cream. Beat the mixture together until well incorporated. Stop the mixer halfway through and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula and start mixing once again.

The mixture is ready once it is fully incorporated and has the same consistency throughout. Reserve until needed.

For this recipe, roll crust out to (1/4″-inch or 6.4mm). I’m using a rolling pin that I can set the thickness. You can do this with a regular rolling pin and either guesstimating or measuring the thickness with a ruler.

A quick look at how the spacers work on this rolling pin

To make this procedure easy, layer the pie crust in between layers of plastic wrap. This way, you can avoid adding additional flour to the dough, which will result in a more tender and flakey crust.

A fully rolled-out crust is ready to place the springform pan in (8″-inch or 20cm).

Prepare the pan by spraying with Baker’s Joy or vegetable spray. I like to go the extra mile and insert baking parchment (optional) on the bottom. Then, be sure to spray the top of the baking parchment with Baker’s Joy or vegetable spray as well.

Carefully place the pie crust into the springform pan without allowing the sides of the crust to grip on the rim of the pan. In other words, fit the bottom of the crust first into the bottom of the pan. 

Use your fingers to mold and push the sides of the crust into the pan.

Next, add about 1 1/2 cups of the reserved custard batter into the bottom of the pan.

Use the back of a spoon or offset spatula to spread the custard batter equally around the base.

Next, add the reserved cooled, seasoned apple slices.

Add the remaining custard batter to the top of the apples and spread like before with the back of a spoon or offset spatula.

Make sure the custard batter is spread to the edge of the pie.

Prepare enough aluminum foil to cover the pie to the side that will contact the pie spray with Baker’s Joy or vegetable spray.

Wrap the pie and springform pan with aluminum foil. Place on a sheet pan and place on the lowest rack in a preheated oven (350°F or 175°C). Bake the pie for 45 minutes. (The pink silicone mat you see is something extra I use to make for easy cleanup. Not necessary, but all springform pans do leak a little bit, no matter their claims.)

After the first 45 minutes of baking, remove from the oven and take off the aluminum foil. Return the pie to the oven and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes.

Once the custard has a golden-brown crust, please remove it from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Meanwhile, toast some sliced almonds in an oven at 350°F  for 15 minutes on a sheet pan. Remove from the oven and sheet pan and reserve.

Once the pie is cooled, you can gild the lily(optional). Start by brushing on some butter or the syrup reserved from the steps above, and then cover the pie with toasted sliced almonds.

After adding the toasted almonds, sprinkle the pie with powdered sugar.

(Tip* Add a little powdered sugar to a fine-mesh sieve and then gently shake the sieve over the pie.)

Slice the pie with a thin sharp knife.

The sliced almonds do add a bit of crunchy texture to the pie.

Apple Custard Pie will not disappoint, especially on a cold morning with fresh brewed hot coffee.