Find yourself someone who loves you the way I love this pie.
About two years ago, I had a slice of pie that I haven’t stopped thinking about. It was the Pumpkin-Apple Pie from Julian Pie Company that you can only get seasonally in Julian, CA. In San Diego, you can find Julian Apple Pies at most grocery stores, but they never send out the Pumpkin-Apple with a dutch crumb top. I remember biting into this pie and being blown away by the combination of flavors. The lower layer was a apple pie, and above that was a silky-custardy pumpkin filling adorned with a crumble topping.
I always look for this pie in the fall, hoping Julian Pie Co. started shipping them out – but I still haven’t seen it. I actually haven’t seen it made anywhere else or made by anyone else, and decided it was finally time to try to recreate this dream of a pie.
First thing’s first, all pies begin with a good crust.
I have used the same all butter pie dough recipe for the past 10+ years, but finally decided to try a new one. I am so glad I did.
This is a Ina Garten crust recipe (original recipe found here) that uses a combination of butter and shortening. This combo yields a dough that is much easier to handle and also holds it’s shape better once crimped and baked. If you have a food processor, use it for pie dough – it makes your life so much easier. If you don’t have one, no worries. Use a pastry blender, fork, or your fingers to bring the dough together.
Here are some important notes to keep in mind when making pie dough:
- For an ultra flaky crust – make sure your ingredients are COLD. Yes, that means cold butter, and cold shortening. Measure and dice butter before hand, and return it to the fridge. Do the same to the shortening. Your pie will thank you.
- Allow time for the dough to R E S T. Some recipes say you can speed up this process by throwing the dough in the freezer – I don’t really recommend this. I suggest making the dough in advance, wrapping it up tight, and giving it the time (and respect) to rest properly in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Don’t roll out the dough until all the filling ingredients are prepped and ready. Keep the dough nice and cold in the fridge until it’s Go Time. That way, once the oven is preheated and filling is all set; all you have to do is roll the dough out, place it in the pie dish, fill it, crimp it, and throw it in the oven to bake. Keep the time your dough sits on your counter at a minimal as you want your cold dough to go into you hot oven, that’s what helps to create that oh-so delicious flaky crust.
Oh one last thing, make sure to COOL your pie. Allow your pie to cool and rest for at least 3 hours before slicing. If you slice into it before its properly rested.., you will have wet runny pie that will haunt you forever. I make this pie a day in advance, let it cool on the counter top, wrap it up with plastic wrap and throw it in the fridge for the next day. That way, your pie is nice a set-once you cut into it it keeps its shape and you have clean pie slices. Enjoy!
- Dough (this recipe yields 2 10-inch crusts):
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) very cold unsalted butter, diced
- ⅓ cup very cold vegetable shortening
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 6 to 8 tablespoons (about ½ cup) ice water
- Apple Filling:
- 2 Golden Delicious apples, cut into ¼-inch slice
- 1 Gala apple, cut into ¼-inch slice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- Pinch of Salt
- Pumpkin Filling:
- 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 eggs
- Crumb Topping
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, diced
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- To make the dough, in a food processor fitted with a steel blade add the flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse a few times, then add the cold butter and vegetable shortening. Pulse 8-10 times until the butter is in pea-sized bits. With the machine running, add the ice water a little bit at a time through the feed tub until the dough begins to form a ball. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove from fridge. On a lightly floured surface, cut the dough in half, and return one half back to the fridge (use for another pie).
- With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a disc. Using a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll the dough out to measure 10 inches in diameter and about ¼ inch thickness.
- Roll the dough up around rolling pin, and gently place onto 9-inch pie pan. With your fingers, gently press the dough down to fit the shape of the pan, trim and crimp the dough and return to the fridge until ready to use.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees and make the apple filling, pumpkin filling, and crumble top.
- For the Apple Filling:
- In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, add sliced apples, butter, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pinch of salt. Microwave for 4 minutes, mix and set aside.
- For the Pumpkin Filling:
- In a large mixing bowl, add pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, evaporated milk, 2 eggs. Whisk until combined, set aside.
- For the Crumb Topping:
- In a small mixing bowl, add diced butter, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon, Mix with a fork (or your fingers) until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbles. Set aside.
- Remove pie plate from the refridgerator and fill the bottom with cooked apple mixture (make sure to scoop the mixture and leave out all the excess juice-this will make your crust soggy).
- Next, pour the pumpkin filling over the apples and bake for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, sprinkle the crumble topping onto the pie. Bake for an additional 15-30 minutes (until pumpkin layer is set and crumble is lightly golden brown).
- Cool at least 3 hours before slicing. Pie can be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for unto 5 days.
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