Dried Fruit Winter Fruit Pie with an array of dried fruits, nuts, warm spices and rum for the perfect winter pie; heavy in flavor and a little bit boozy.
Course Pies
Cuisine Mediterranean Fusion
Keyword Dried Fruit Winter Fruit Pie
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings
Equipment
Pie plate
Cookie cutter
Basting brush
Ingredients
8tbspUnsalted Butter cold
1 3/4cupsAll Purpose Flourmore for dusting
1/4cupWalnuts, or preferred nutcrushed
1tbspSugar
2Eggs
1-3tbspCold water
Filling
5Apples peeled and cored
3cupsDried Fruit, finely choppedeither raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots or a mix
1Lemon juice and zest
1Egg
1/2cupBrown sugar extra for topping
1/4cupCornstarch or potato starch
1tbspCinnamon
1/4tspNutmeg
1/4tspCloves
1/2tspGinger
1tspAllspice
1/2tspSalt
1/4cupRum
Instructions
CrustCrush the nuts first in the processor and then remove them. Place the butter, flour and sugar into the processor and whisk together until all have incorporated. Add the nuts and pulse a few times.
In a pourable cup, whisk 1 egg and 1 tablespoon cold water together. With the machine running, slowly pour the egg mixture in. Let it run a few seconds until the dough comes together into a ball.
If it still looks dry, then add a few drops at a time (while machine runs), until it comes together. The opposite if it looks too wet to form a ball, add a few pinches of flour at a time until it comes together.
Roll out the crust on a floured surface until it is between 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick. Gather it around the rolling pin and place it in the pie pan. Cut off excess dough, press neatly into the pan and crimp the edges.
Toss the scrapes back into the processor, turn it on and add just a drop or two of water until it comes together into a ball again. Roll the dough out and make cookie press shapes. Place those on a parchment paper and pop into the fridge until ready to use. Now let's make the filling!
Preheat oven to 350 Place a parchment paper on a cookie sheet (drips).
FillingSoak the dried fruit in rum while peeling and chopping or shredding the apples.Finely chopped apple pieces work best.
In a large bowl combine apples, lemon juice, lightly whisked egg, dried fruit with rum, sugar, and spices and toss well.
Sprinkle cornstarch across the top and mix well. Really mix well.
Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake for 45-minutes. Remove the pie from the oven to briefly add the cutouts.
Add the cut-out dough pieces. Whisk the last egg with a drizzle of water to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash across the cut-outs pieces of dough and around the crimped edges. Sprinkle a little sugar across the top. This adds a caramel affect to the cutouts and really makes them pop when baked.
Place the pie back into the oven and finish baking until the filling is firm and the crust is golden brown, about another 10-15 minutes.
Notes
Adding the cut out pieces of dough the last 10-minutes of baking, keeps them from over cooking. Think of them like a cookie, which usually only needs about 10-minutes to bake.