Chef's CornerDesiree Brassert

Apple Crumble Pie

Chef's Corner logoBy Desiree Brassert

These little Costa Rican apples can be very flavorful. Usually in bags of 6, their colors are reddish yellow. They are soooo much better than the bigger, imported, pricey, and bland varieties also found on those same shelves at the produce counter.

Desiree's Apple Crumble Pie

Crust

  • 1¼  cups flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 tbs manteca (shortening) chilled
  • 4 tablespoons of butter (preferably unsalted) chilled
  • 4 to 6 tbs water
  • ½ shot vodka

Work the dough by hand combining fats and flour into a crumbly mix. Moisten with water and vodka until you can form a ball. Let rest for 2 hours. Roll out and line pie dish.

Filling:

  • 6 to 8 little Tico apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbs melted butter

Mix well and pour into pie shell

Crumble:

  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp chilled butter
  1. Process all of the above, it should look like wet sand.
  2. Cover sliced apples.
  3. Bake at 350 for 198O C for 45 minutes to one hour.
  4. Serve with vanilla ice cream.