Apple Pear Pie with Cardamom and Ginger

Apple pie, the ultimate American dessert.

Here in the States we proudly serve it at Christmas and Easter and the 4th of July, no matter what fruit is actually in season.

But I’d be remiss not to say that I do think it tastes best when the air is crisp, and warm spices are a welcome addition.

I love when the time finally comes to pull out my gray and yellow cardigan and a tall pair of boots. To crunch in the leaves and, most of all, go apple picking.

When my bags are full of Honeycrisps and Pink Ladies, Granny Smiths and Macintoshes, I head home and dream of all of the treats I can make: cooked down into sauce, sliced up in a cake, juiced or in a salad, filled and baked.

But I wouldn’t be a true patriotic American if I didn’t dream first and foremost of a nice big pie.

This Cardamom Apple Pear Pie is a riff on the classic, switching out the traditional cinnamon and nutmeg for cardamom and ginger. Pears lend a nice extra touch of sweetness, perfectly complementing the other flavors.

I typically make mine with the classic lattice crust, but you can be creative with your design, and with the recipe you choose. You can go with a typical pie dough, or try our all-butter whole grain spelt flour recipe. I recommend starting with our comprehensive crust-making guide for the best tips and tricks, and our pate brisee recipe. Print

Cooking by the Numbers…

Step One – Peel, Core, and Slice

Start by peeling and coring your fruit. When I was younger, we had a handy tabletop tool that peeled, cored, and sliced it all in one quick step. While I long for that simplicity nowadays, my small kitchen is limited in how many gadgets it can hold.

Instead, I typically peel the fruit by hand and slice around the cores.

I like to chop my fruit into small cubes, but some pie lovers prefer their apples to be sliced into half moons.

For this method, peel your fruit, cut it in half vertically, and use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds, followed by a paring knife to slice out the rest of the core. Set the fruit core side down, and slice into 1/4-inch strips.

Transfer your chopped fruit into a medium-sized bowl and cover with lemon juice.

Step Two – Mix

In a separate bowl, mix together your sugar, spices, and starches.

The sugar will help to distribute the spices and starches to ensure that they are spread evenly throughout the filling. You don’t want to bite into a clump of dry cornstarch or spicy ginger – or for any of your guests to!

Step Three – Combine

Combine the fruit with the sugar mixture and half of the butter.

You want the sugar to coat the fruit so that you don’t end up with chunks of stuck-together apples that aren’t combined uniformly with the rest of the gooey, flavorful filling.

Step Four – Fill

Pour your filling into an unbaked crust and dot the top with the remaining butter.

I recommend you follow my crust guide for the perfect pate brisee shell, but any recipe or premade dough will do.

Step Five – Cover

This is my favorite step of pie making, since there is so much room for creativity!

You can use your top crust to build the classic lattice, or a simple vented layer. You can also make a design with fun shapes, use a pie bird, or punch out a creative vent of your own.

No matter what you choose, your pie will be both beautiful and delicious.

Preheat your oven to 375°F while you set the pie to rest in the fridge. You want it to rest for at least half an hour, to allow the gluten in the crust to settle down and the butter to firm up.

Step Six – Bake

When you are ready to bake, place your pie on a baking tray. The filling will bubble while it bakes, and it is helpful to have a tray to catch any potential spills.

It’s much easier to scrub off a sticky tray than to clean the bottom of your oven!

Whisk together one egg and a tablespoon of water, and brush this egg wash over the top crust.

Bake for one hour. If the crust looks like it is getting a bit too dark, you can cover it with aluminum foil for the remainder of the bake time, or create a collar with foil just around the edge of the pie.

Let the pie rest for at least one hour before you slice into it, on a wire cooling rack.

As difficult as this might seem, allowing it time to settle and set will create a firm filling with and a pie that cuts smoothly, without oozing.

Top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, or a big scoopful of homemade cinnamon honey ice cream.

Give It a Try!

I’m off to go pick some apples now, and I suggest you head out to acquire some too – whether at a nearby orchard or simply your local market! It is well worth your time to give this recipe a try.

Though if you’re after a different kind of holiday-themed pie, check out our holiday pies round up for both Thanksgiving and Christmas! Or, to keep things simple, take a look at some of our other apple pastries, including:

• Mini Apple Pie for Two
• Apple Cream Cheese Streusel Pie
• Rustic Apple Tartlets
• French Apple Tart

Love apples and want to try something a little different in the realm of apple baked goods? Give our caramel apple scones recipe a try.

For a baked apple hot weather treat for breakfast (or any time, really), try out this baked apple pie smoothie – or pair a piece of this pie with a delicious apple cocktail.