Hungree Girl: Winter Fruit Pie

Yup, it's official. Today I made the perfect pie. I know what you're thinking, perfect? ya right. But if you were here to taste this one then I can confidently say that you would 100% be on board with agreement. Since I go back to school in 48 hours, I decided to make the most of my time at home and spend all day in the kitchen. I was in a pie mood and started searching the web for inspiration and came across a winter fruit pie. I adapted the recipe to my liking and pretty soon my project was underway. 3 hours later I had my result, a golden toasted pie filled with warm gooey fruit topped with a walnut crumble. The pie is filled with pears, apples, cranberries, and I added dates. The tartness of the cranberries is incredible when combined with the rest of the sugary fruit and the dates really add a nice texture. The crust, an all butter one, the way crusts should be, was flaky and sweet. The crumbly topping mixes the nuttyness of the walnuts with the sugary mollasessy-ness of brown sugar and when it's baked and oozing with bubbling fruit juices it is honestly to die for. SO, if you're in the market for a perfect pie, look no further because this is the winner right here.

PS. it was very hard for me to write that description without wanting more, so I had to cut another slice mid-post. Ya, it's that good.

Deep Dish Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb, adapted from Epicurious

Pie Pastry
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbs granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbs cold salted butter
4 tbs ice water
1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

Walnut Crumb Topping
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup raw walnuts, chopped coarsely
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
7 tbs melted butter

Fruit Filling
1 cup dried dates
4 small apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs lemon juice, fresh squeezed

Recipe: To make the crust, put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, stir to combine, then put the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes. Add the butter to the flour mixture and using a food processor or electric mixer, mix until it becomes crumbly and course and the butter is the size of peas Stir the water and lemon juice together then pour over the dry ingredients. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened, dump the dough onto a well-floured work surface and press it into a 6 inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and regrigerate for at least 1 hour. After an hour, roll the chilled dough into a 14 inch disk. Butter a 9 inch pie pan and press the crust into the dish. Cut off the trimmings. Chill for an additional 30 minutes in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the pie.
To make the walnut crumb topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the butter, then work it with your hands until the texture is crumbly. Put the topping in the fridge until you make the filling. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
To make the fruit filling, remove the pits from the dates, then boil them in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain, set aside until cool. Once cool, peel of the skin with your hands. Dice the dates. In a large bowl put the apples, pears, cranberries and dates. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice, and mix with a spoon to combine thoroughly. Transfer the filling to the pie shell and top with crumb topping. Bake in the lower part of the oven for 60-75 minutes, or until the crumb is golden, the fruit juices are bubbling thickly. If the topping gets too dark while baking, cover it with foil.

Serving suggestions: Serve warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream. MMM.

NOW: in pictures