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.
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 💓
I made this pie two weeks ago and am planning to make it again today with my granddaughter. It is super easy.
ReplyDeleteWe all really enjoyed it. It was very similar in texture to a pumpkin pie. The apple flavor was subtle. I only had regular unsweetened applesauce, so I added 1 1/2 t. cinnamon to the filling. The sprinkle of cinnamon on top made it.
I used my favorite homemade crust recipe.
I think this would be a great pie for holidays.