I love everything about this Rye Crust Apple Custard Pie, except perhaps the fact that it requires a deep-dish pan and it’s a bit of a pain to make. The dense, savory, buttery crust goes so well with the cool creamy custard. Then the tart but caramelized apples bring bushels of fall flavor and provide texture and balance to the vanilla custard. It is playful and unexpected all the while fulfilling my love for old-fashioned dessert flavors. This Rye Crust Apple Custard Pie is oh-so-worth the extra effort this recipe may require, and I have broken it into a two or three day process to make it feel less arduous when I make it. Simply make the pastry one day, roll it out and bake it another, make the apples a day or two ahead and refrigerate them. When you’re ready to bake it, it will be a matter of throwing all of the ingredients together, rather than the make and wait all-day process this looks like. That said, if you’re having a busy, multi-tasking full-meal sort of cooking day, you won’t notice the challenge at all because the steps are straightforward and you can use the downtime for other dishes on the Thanksgiving Menu. And when it’s time for dessert you’ll be glad for the effort and you’ll wow your friends and family with this Rye Crust Apple Custard Pie.
- 2 ¼ cups heavy cream
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 ¼ cups light rye flour
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 6 tablespoons ice water
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 large Granny Smith apple—peeled, cored, quartered and sliced thin
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
- deep dish pan
- optional crème fraîche for serving
- In a blender, puree cream, eggs and yolks, vanilla extract, sugar, flour, vanilla bean paste and salt. Cover and refrigerate (3 hours).
- Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the light rye flour, all-purpose flour, sugar and salt to blend. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of small peas. Drizzle in the ice water and pulse until the pastry just starts to come together. Turn the pastry out onto a work surface and gather into a ball.
- Flatten to a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- After dough is chilled, lightly dust flour on the counter, and roll out the pastry until it is about 2 inches wider than a 9-inch, deep-dish glass pie plate. Place the pastry in the pie pan and fold and cut the edges as needed to fit the pan and look pretty.
- Refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill the pie dish with pie weights.
- Bake for about 30-50 minutes, until the shell is golden brown all over and cooked through. Cover the pie rim with foil if it gets too dark.
- Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
- While the pie shell is cooling, make the caramelized apples. In a large skillet, cook the butter with the sugar over moderate heat until bubbling and caramelized (3 minutes). Add the apple slices and vanilla paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and caramelized (5 minutes).
- Carefully add the vinegar and simmer until the caramel is slightly thickened.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F. Scatter half of the apples in the cooled shell.
- Pour in the custard. Cover the crust with foil to prevent it from burning.
- Bake the tart about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the custard is golden and just set. Let cool on the toaster or a wire rack.
- Spoon the remaining apples on top of the tart.
I prefer this tart served chilled, but it can be served room temperature. 
I like a dallop of crème fraîche on top.
- Also, if you want, you can make two regular 8 inch pies with this recipe, rather than using a deep dish pan. And sometimes I double the amount of caramelized apple, because it’s so delicious.
