A few things set this apple pie apart. Sauteing the apples in browned butter, then letting them cook down with sugar, a touch of lemon juice and Chinese five spice results in a filling reminiscent of caramel apples. Chinese five spice powder is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns, and it lends the filling a bright note. You can substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each of ground ginger and cloves. Because the filling is cooked, this recipe calls for blind-baking the crust. You can use blind baking beans or dried beans (which you can cool after baking and reuse for future blind-baking). A sprinkling of crumb topping adds extra texture and sweetness.
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I love the idea of using Chinese Five Spice to the apple pie. I have used a dash of it on top of homemade applesauce before and can’t believe I have never made the connection of using it in apple pie. Yum!
Isn’t it cool? That was Lia’s idea, and I confess I was a little skeptical before I tried it. But it adds wonderful bright, warm, spicy flavor to the filling! I’m a convert!
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Thanks for stopping by, Kathryn. I have to admit, though, around here semi-homemade is more likely to mean using frozen peas or seafood or canned tomatoes than it is a box mix ;-).
I love cooking with 5 spice but never thought about using it in desserts yet I can see it working in this recipe. Kudos!
The topping recipe is wrong. Adding 1/3 cup of orange juice makes a gloppy mess. Perhaps you meant a teaspoon or tablespoon of orange juice?
Oh, my, Leslie, I’m so sorry about that. I revisited my testing notes & just remade the topping to double-check, and yes, indeed, it should be 1 T of OJ. Thank you for letting us know, so I can correct it, pronto! I hope you had enough on hand to remake it. Many apologies…
I’m making this for Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing….Although, I will be honest and let you know that due to limited counter space and an overall fear of making pie dough, I will be using store bought dough (yikes!!). : )
I made a vegan version for Thanksgiving! (http://cookmarked.com/recipe.aspx?eID=YVVFCT3iHt5tVperwBzPppIEe2p599eW05hbcc27d6Qe)
I think I’ll try it with a little more sugar and a crust instead of the crumble topping next time.