It’s apple picking season! Here in Chicago, we’ve been having some fabulous weather – perfect for a day at the apple orchards. After a visit, we’re left with so many apples to play with and almost every year, we end up making an apple pie. This year, we enjoyed a French Apple Pie with a Butterflake Crust and it was so good, we’ll probably made it again to grace our holiday table in the coming months. The butterflake crust makes for a deliciously rich pie, not to mention the sweet apple filling with all the flavors of fall swirled in. Although apple season is usually in the fall, this is one pie you can make all year round…
Thanks to my friend/neighbor, Ro, she made this pie a couple weeks ago for a pie swap event I hosted. It was amazing and I confess I indulged in this gluten laden treat at the time. (Trust me, it was worth feeling sick over!) I prepared the pie using her recipe using a gluten free all purpose flour that included xanthan gum and wow… so so good. If you’re not keen on making a pie crust, have no fear. This pie crust is forgiving and because of the amount of cream cheese and butter, it’s easier to work with… if you don’t mind a slightly sticky dough.
As for the apples, I like a combination of tart and sweet apples. For tart apples, try Granny Smiths, Empires, or Cortlands; for sweet, we recommend Golden Delicious, Jonagolds, or Braeburns. The filling for this pie takes some effort but believe me, it’s worth it. Apple slices are peeled, cored and sliced before tossing with lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. The apples macerate a bit, allowing some natural juices to come out. These juices are saved and boiled down with butter to concentrate the flavors and soon enough, a delicious golden syrup is made.
The apple slices are tossed in cornstarch and mounded high in the prepared pie crust, followed by the syrup drizzled on top of them. Don’t worry if the pie looks ridiculously full. The apples will cook down while baking so it won’t come out quite as high. Then a sweet crumb topping of butter, flour and sugar is sprinkled on top of the apples for good measure before baking.
With a delicious buttery, cream crust, perfectly sweetened apples, a drizzle of apple syrup and a lovely brown sugar and butter crumb topping, what’s not to love?!
recipe from friend, Ro Jacobshagen
Yum! When can I come over for a slice? I'm only half joking, of course… =)
It looks so delicious!!
I have 7 packages of cream cheese and this pie recipe is definitely a must do! Who would've thunk of cream cheese in the crust? Thanks for sharing.
btw – I'm lovin'g Chi-town's weather, too!
Your picture of the pie speaks a thousand words…about its yummy element!
This cake looks absolutely delicious !!
Hi! Just happen to stumble upon your blog…have you tried this recipe with just a regular all purpose flour? Would you recommend making it with gluten-free flour? What size of pan did you use? Thanks!
Hi Anonymous! The first time I had this, the pie was made with regular all purpose flour – it was amazing! (I cheated a bit from my gluten free diet to have it and it was so worth it lol) I liked it so much, I made it again with gluten free flour (Tom Sawyer brand) and it was delicious too. When making it with gluten free flour, I had to form the dough a bit more with my fingertips but that's common with gluten free doughs (at least in my experience). I also used a standard pie plate – either way with all purpose or gluten free, this pie is delicious!
Thanks Joelen! My name is Kathy. One more question… How is the crust different from the pate brisee one? I will your recipe this week. I'm excited!
Hi Kathy! For a traditional pate brisee, it's usually butter, flour, cold water and a touch of salt. This crust is similar but uses a combination of cream cheese and butter as well as flour – no salt or water. If you wanted, you could always use a pate brisee crust instead (which would work well I'm sure too!)