Chinese Five Spiced Apple Carrot Pie
- Details
Tender carrots are surprisingly sweet when baked in a brown sugar syrup, especially when united with perfect Washington apples and plump little raisin gems. The fresh ginger is a classic pairing with the carrot, and is highlighted perfectly by the Star Anise in our Chinese Five Spice. The all-butter crust recipe I’ve included is a long-time standby of mine, and produces some of the flakiest and best pastry I’ve ever tasted. It will definitely be making an appearance at my Thanksgiving table this year!
Chinese Five Spiced Apple Carrot Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chilled, unsalted butter
- ½ cup very cold water
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
For the Filling:
- 3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled
- 3 medium McIntosh or Pink Lady apples, peeled
- 6 large carrots, peeled
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Lemon Crystal
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon Utah basin salt
- 1 tablespoon ground Chinese Five Spice
- 1 teaspoon Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon
- ½ cup boiling water
- 3 tablespoons dry sherry (or port/liquor of your choosing)
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
Instructions
Crust:
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
- Pour boiling water and 1 tablespoon of the sherry over raisins, and allow to soak
- In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar several times to combine. Add butter. Pulse until mixture mostly resembles coarse meal, with few pea-size pieces remaining. Be wary of over-working. (This can be done using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your hands.)
- Sprinkle in cold water, beginning with 3 tablespoons. Pulse until dough is crumbly, but holds together when squeezed. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until this happens. Again, do not over-work.
- Turn dough out onto a cutting board. Divide in to two equal portions, and form each portion in to 3/4-inch-thick disks. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
- While dough chills, assemble filling.
Filling:
- Peel and core apples, and cut in to slices 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut carrots on the bias so they’re approximately the same size as the apple slices, but 1/16 of an inch thick.
- In a large bowl, toss apples, carrots, ginger, sugars, Lemon Crystal, Chinese Five Spice, salt, and flour until well incorporated.
- Drain raisins, and incorporate with other filling ingredients. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of sherry to filling mixture.
- Unwrap dough; place on a large floured cutting board. Roll dough to a 14-inch round. Wrap dough around rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate. Gently fit into bottom and up sides of plate. Using a fork, prick holes all around the dough to allow crust to vent and prevent shrinkage.
- Fill crust with filling, pressing gently to tamp down. Dot top of filling with softened butter.
- Roll out second dough disk to a ten inch round. Wrap around rolling pin, and drape over filled pie dish.
- Trim overhang, and crimp top and bottom crusts together.
- Bake pie at 425 for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 for another 35 minutes, or until crust is golden, juices are bubbling, and apples and carrots are tender. Cool for four hours, and serve alone or with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
For the crust, I recommend using Gold Medal or King Arthur brand flour, and the highest quality butter you can afford.
3 Comments
Leave a Comment
Chewy Lemon & Blueberry Mace Oatmeal Cookies
The fall colors and weather are here, and there’s nothing better to come home to than a warm home flooded with the scent of freshly baked cookies. My grandmother used to make oatmeal cookies with …
English Beef Rub
English Beef Rub offers up a bold combination of cinnamon and juniper along with salt and pepper for incredible flavor! Influenced by medieval beef rubs, the intense flavors stand up to and takes the edge off of gamey …
Spicy Smoked Paprika Romesco Over Grilled Trout
My first taste of romesco was not, sadly, in Catalonia. I first encountered this crimson sauce in Walla Walla, Washington at a going away party for a dear foodie friend. I prepped ribs, halibut, and …
Chorizo Bomb Stuffed Acorn Squash
Acorn squash is one of my favorites because they can be personal sized and filled with whatever you’re craving. This recipe is simple and Chorizo Bomb does all of the work. As the name implies, …
Cheddar Cheese Coins
Appetizers aren’t just for parties and gatherings. Whether you just want some snacks for watching tv or something to nibble on while catching up on that novel, this is the cookbook for you. The experts …
I tried this recipe out this weekend and it’s splended. If I do it again, I’ll parboil the carrots first. Even though I sliced them very thin, they were still a bit too crisp in the finished pie.
Why not grate the carrots? Not too fine, of course. I’ll give it a try.
It’s more of a visual thing – having the carrots cut about the same size as the apples is more visually appealing than if they’re grated. But if they’re grated using the larger size on a grater, then it should look just as good. (Try using different colored carrots, too.)