By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Custard pie with
apples is potluck fave

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Teri Young knew exactly what she wanted when she called in her recipe request: an open-faced apple pie with a custard filling on the bottom, Granny Smith apples on top. All she didn't know was the name.

She'd had the dessert at a potluck and was told it was a German Apple Pie, but hadn't had any luck finding a pie recipe by that name.

Well, neither did I, but I did find lots of recipes for custard-and-apple pies, some with top crusts, some without.

The trick was finding one with apples on top, custard on the bottom. Most are the other way around, this being a fairly predictable result if you bake a light custard together with heavier apple slices.

The solution: Bake the custard in the pie shell, but cook the apples on the stovetop. The quickie recipe is found on several Internet sites and seems to be a potluck favorite in some parts of the country.

The fairly dense custard is a mix of sour cream and sweetened condensed milk, which makes it very simple. If you wanted to make it even easier, you could use canned apple pie filling instead of working from scratch. On the other hand, if you want to make it more complicated -- or if you like a more traditional custard -- follow your favorite custard pie recipe and just take up this one for the stovetop apples and the glaze.

Apple-Custard Pie

1 9-inch, deep-dish unbaked pie crust
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon brown sugar, or more to taste
>> Custard
1 cup sour cream
1 14 -ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
>> Glaze:
1/4 cup frozen apple juice, thawed
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake crust 15 minutes.

To prepare custard: Stir sour cream and condensed milk together until smooth. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon, then add egg and stir until well-combined. Pour into baked crust, up to 1/4 inch from the top. Bake 30 minutes, until set. Cool completely.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add apples and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Add water and cook until very soft, about 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with brown sugar and toss to coat. Cool slightly.

To make glaze: Stir juice, cinnamon and cornstarch together in a small pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and continue cooking until thickened.

Arrange apple slices on top of custard; drizzle with glaze. Refrigerate. Serves 8.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Can you help?

Gladys Sato yearns for the mochi sold at the now-closed Taniguchi Store on Beretania Street. The mochi came in flavors such as sweet potato, strawberry and blueberry, and could keep for days in the refrigerator without getting hard. Any suggestions?

See the Columnists section for some past articles.

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.