It's easy to understand why apple crumble pie (sometimes called French apple pie in diners and old cookbooks) is so immensely popular: It packs all the flavor and fragrance of a traditional apple pie underneath a carapace of nutty, buttery, cinnamony crumbs. Adding cranberries to the filling evokes a familiar fall color and provides pleasant tartness to balance the sweetness.
•Dough can be chilled up to 3 days.
•Pie can be made 1 day ahead and kept, loosely covered, at room temperature.
Recipe information
Total Time
5 hr (includes cooling)
Yield
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
For pastry dough:
For crumble topping:
For fruit filling:
Preparation
Make pastry:
Step 1
Blend together flour, butter, shortening, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoon ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
Step 2
Squeeze a small handful: If dough doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring until incorporated. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.
Step 3
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together (using a pastry scraper if you have one) and form into a 5-inch disk. If dough is sticky, dust lightly with additional flour. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Make crumble topping:
Step 4
Stir together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips until large clumps form, then stir in pecans. Chill until ready to use.
Make fruit filling:
Step 5
Stir together apples, cranberries, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice in a large bowl.
Assemble pie:
Step 6
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in lower third.
Step 7
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round, then fit into pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp decoratively. Transfer fruit filling to pie shell and dot with butter. Loosely cover with foil and bake until apples droop slightly, about 30 minutes.
Step 8
Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Sprinkle crumble topping over filling and bake, uncovered, until crumble is browned, filling is bubbling, and apples are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Cool completely, 2 to 3 hours.
Recipe notes
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