Recipe: Rose Family Pie (Apple Pie With A Twist), By Kate Lebo

Apples, pears, and quince (all members of the Rosaceae, or rose, family) cozy up with honey and cinnamon for a pie that, in my family, eclipses all other Thanksgiving pies.

Quinces take longer to bake than their softer cousins. Sautéing them in butter helps them get a head start. Choose a light, floral honey to frame the fruit. Their natural pectin requires only a spoonful of thickening flour. The ¼ cup of butter in this recipe is as much for rich flavor as it is for thickening power.

Makes 1 pie (1 recipe any double-crust pie dough)

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter

2 quinces (about 1 pound) peeled, cored, and sliced 1/8 inch thick

2 pears, any variety, peeled if desired, cored, and sliced 1/8 inch thick

2 tart pie apples, peeled if desired, cored, and sliced 1/8 inch thick

½ cup honey

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Small pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1 heaping tablespoon flour

Egg white wash (1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water)

Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

1. Make the dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour, or overnight. Roll out the bottom crust and place it in a 9- to 10-inch pie plate. Tuck the crust into the plate and trim the edges. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the next steps of the recipe.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the quince slices, stir to coat, and sauté until tender, stirring occasionally to prevent browning. Quince cook quite slowly and can be sour if undercooked, so be patient and make sure they’re soft before you remove them from the heat.
4. In a medium bowl, combine the quince, pears, apples, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and stir until each slice is evenly covered. Taste and adjust the flavors as needed. Stir in the flour and set the filling aside.
5. Roll out the top crust and retrieve the bottom crust from the refrigerator.
6. Pour the filling into the bottom crust and mound it with your hands. Drape the top crust over it. Trim, fold, and flute the edges if you like. Cut generous steam vents, brush the crust with the egg white wash, and sprinkle it with the demerara sugar.
7. Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is blond and blistered. Rotate the pie front to back and reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes more, until the crust is deeply golden and the juices bubble slowly at the pie’s edge. If the crust starts to get too brown, tent it with aluminum foil.
8. Cool the pie on a wire rack for at least an hour before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers on the kitchen counter loosely wrapped in a towel for up to 3 days.

*(c)2014 By Kate Lebo. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour, and Butter by permission of Sasquatch Books.