Ever since I was little I remember my mom saying my Uncle Gary loved applesauce pie. I even remember her making it for him a couple of times as he stopped through town. The things is though....I never really understood the appeal. It's apple sauce in a graham cracker crust and frozen. That's it.
Recently, he and I had become rather close and in one of our hours long conversations I ended up throwing shade at this beloved dessert of his.
I said " I don't get it.....it's just frozen apple sauce...in a crust??"
His reply was looking at me and basically saying " Yea,and what's your point??"
I went on and on telling him that I thought I could improve upon it and make him a baked version. He made a face of disgust and waved it off (he had a certain way of waving things off that makes me laugh every time I think about it) I was trying soooo hard to convince it would be good.
"No really, it would be almost like a custard. I would base it off my pumpkin pie recipe but use applesauce instead"
At this point I'm pretty sure he was convinced that there was a possibility it could be good, but of course he was not about tell me that.😜 I asked him if he would try if if I made it this year for Thanksgiving.
I got another wave of the hand and a "Fine, I'll try it"
VICTORY!!!
It may not have been a resounding yes but it was as much as I was going to get out of his stubborn smart ass self!
Unfortunately, a cancer diagnosis came quickly at the end of October and within 15 days he passed away. It made me so sad that he never got to try the pie, but I wanted to still create it and serve it in his honor.....along with some of the other weird desserts he loves ( like spice cake with peanut butter frosting, not gross, but not something that immediately comes to mind as a delicious combination lol)
Luckily it seemed to come together well in my first attempt and the family that tried it at the gathering seemed to like it. I did have to laugh though because as the night was winding down, I noticed not one single person had taken a slice of his original version of the pie.
I said "Poor Uncle Gary, nobody ate his weird pie!"
Then a bunch of us ate some small slivers of his applesauce popsicle of a pie just for him! It's not bad....it's just a funny idea for a dessert.
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| The original version |
So this pie is for you Uncle Gary! Mom says you wouldn't have liked it...I think you would have. (Even if you wouldn't ever have admitted it 😜)
The funny thing is I actually HATE apple pie. (I know, I know....how unamerican of me) But I really just loathe the texture of cooked apples. I have always said I like the flavor, but can't do the texture. If I touch a piece of apple pie at all it's just to eat some of the surrounding goop on the crust. Pieces of apple are avoided at all costs!! So I actually really like this recipe because it has all the yummy flavor of apple pie but is smooth and creamy.
Apple Sauce Custard Pie
1 9" unbaked pie crust
2 cups cinnamon applesauce
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs, beaten
Cinnamon for sprinkling
Mix together the applesauce, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and eggs. Pour into a 9" pie crust. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon. Bake in a 350 oven until the center of the pie is set. It took 40 mins in my oven but could vary.
Love you Uncle Gary 💓
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