southern comfort apple pie

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Mine was fairly eventful...and by eventful I mean accident-prone. Pretty typical for me. The day began with a direct hit to the leg by a wiffle ball and ended with not one, but two fireworks-related grass fires. Soooo all in all, a pretty good little Independence Day. :)

Dad smoked a pork loin and we had all the BBQ fixins. Potato salad, baked beans, pasta salad. All delicious. My contribution to the day was a Southern Comfort Apple Pie. I've made this pie countless times and people tend to freak out a little bit over this here pie. It's won me money, got me on TV, and won me the love and affection of millions (okay, that last one is a bit of a stretch, but you get the picture).

I made this pie last 4th of July for an ex who claimed to not like pie. He took one look at this (rather homely) pie and proclaimed it too ugly to eat. However, as I've claimed time and again, this pie works miracles. After convincing him to try just one bite, he immediately demolished about half the pie, and then informed me that I was not allowed to make this pie for any other men...he loved it that much. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he would have run away with this pie if he could have. But, you know what? This pie is so good I don't even blame him.

I'm so excited to share this pie recipe with you today. It's perfection in a pan. Enjoy!

Southern Comfort Apple Pie

Topping:
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (5-1/3 Tbsp) chilled unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until a rich brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Coarsely chop nuts and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process sugars, cinnamon, salt, and flour for about 1 minute. Cut butter into small pieces and add to sugar-flour mixture. Pulse 10 to 15 times until mixture is crumbly. Remove from processor and stir in pecans. Refrigerate topping, covered, until ready to use.

Apple Filling:
5 to 6 medium-sized tart apples, such as Braeburn, Cortland, or Winesap
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Southern Comfort or other bourbon whiskey
1/2 cup whipping cream

1 unbaked pie crust, either homemade or store-bought

Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When butter starts to foam, add apples and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes. In a small bowl stir together cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle on apples, and stir to combine. Simmer apples over medium-low heat for about 1 minute longer. Remove apples from skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving as much of butter-sugar mixture in skillet as possible. Transfer apples to a baking sheet and arrange in a single layer until ready to use. (If heaped in a pile, they will become soggy.)

Pour Southern Comfort into butter-sugar mixture in skillet. Simmer mixture over medium heat until alcohol burns off, at least 5 minutes (sniff mixture at close range; if it burns your nostrils, the vapors are still burning off). Add cream and continue simmering until mixture is quite thick but still pourable, 5 to 10 minutes. Return apples to skillet and stir to coat.

Transfer unbaked piecrust to pie pan, crimping edges with your fingers or a fork. Prick bottom with a fork. Pour apples and cream mixture into unbaked piecrust (do not fill to more than 1/2 inch below top of crust) and sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake until filling is bubbling and topping is brown, 50 to 60 minutes.

Yield: 1 9-inch pie

Source: The Pastry Queen (the best cookbook purchase you'll ever make)