It’s back, baby! (albeit a few weeks later than normal)

Nine years later and I still find that there’s no better way to close out summer than throwing random pie recipes at my fellow food bloggers.

So let’s get into mine.

My recipe comes courtesy of Camilla’s Culinary Adventures.

From Borden Great American Pies Cookbook, Savory and Sweet (1990) it’s Candy Apple Cheese Pie.

I like my pie. I like that it’s a dessert pie (I feel like I’m always making savory–see at end of post) and is visually interesting. I also like that I’ve never heard of a candy apple pie before. How novel!

As you can see, the recipe is pretty straightforward and hard to fuck up.

OR SO I THOUGHT!

Firstly, has anyone ever purchased sliced apples in a can? As in not apple pie filling but just sliced apples?

This item does not exist at my grocery store, so instead I thinly sliced apples. But then I looked back at the photo and they are clearly wedges. And I didn’t have another apple. That was strike one!

I don’t know if it was the fact that I used real lemon juice from real lemons–not RealLemon lemon juice from concentrate–or the reduced fat cream cheese, but the pie filling was runny and wouldn’t fully set.

Or at least how I hoped it would set. I was imagining more of a cheesecake-type center, but that would be impossible given the viscosity of (EAGLE BRAND) sweetened condensed milk. Strike two!

Now for the candy apple portion of the pie–which was another instance where my expectations did not meet my reality.

So, when I think candy apple, I think of a hard coating. That is what a candy apple is, yes? No?

I don’t know! And now I’m wondering if I’ve ever had a candy apple.

Well, even if not a candy shell, I was envisioning a GLAZE of some sort; but melting down cinnamon candies does not a glaze make. Strike three!

I guess it looks okay. But can you see how runny the topping is? It kept trying to escape the pie pan. Even after “setting” in the refrigerator for over an entire day, this was it:

So this was sloppy.

Taste-wise–it was nowhere near as cinnamonn-y as I expected it to be. But good!

In an effort to make the pie more substantial, I threw it in the freezer.

After a night in the freezer:

It kept its shape and essentially became an ice cream pie. With the pie crust and apple slices, this is what I imagine an Apple Pie DQ Blizzard would turn out.

Is that all ice cream is–cream cheese and condensed milk?

In closing, this pie went from being a small disaster to a small triumph.

Please now go check on all the other pies!

• Straight out of Nashville and into Dr. Bobb’s Kitschen–it’s Praline Pumpkin Pie
• The Battenburg Belle has a slice of Zucchini Pie with your name on it
• S.S. at the Book of Cookrye bakes a pie fit for a king–Yul Brenner’s Walnut Pie
• Robert Carrier’s Veal, Ham and Tongue Pie is on the menu over at The Nostalgic Cook
• Jenny at Silver Screen Suppers gets her horoscope on with Sagittarius Hamburger Pie
• Retro Food for Modern Times has an intimate moment with Lime Pie with Creme de Menthe
• Chocolate Angel Pie is the next stop on Camilla’s Culinary Adventures
• Summer may be over, but Winnie-the-Pooh’s Summer Pie is at Vintage Recipe Cards
• Open up the Grannie Pantries! Betty Crocker’s Apricot Mallow Pie has a secret ingredient!

My previous Pieathalon entries:

FIRST ANNUAL PIEATHALON: SEAFOAM CANTALOUPE PIE

PIEATHALON 2: MELTON MOWBRAY PIE

JUNE 3, 2015

PIEATHALON 3: PEANUTS-AND-BEER PIE

JUNE 8, 2016

PIEATHALON 4: BETTY CROCKER’S CHICKEN-SAUSAGE PIES (1965)

JULY 7, 2017

5TH ANNUAL PIEATHALON: KATE’S PIE (1985)

AUGUST 20, 2018

PIEATHALON 6: SALVADOR DALI’S OASIS LEEK PIE (1973)

AUGUST 20, 2019

PIEATHALON 7: BETTY CROCKER’S SOMBRERO PIE (1971)

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

PIEATHALON 8: MAHOGANY PIE (1978)

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021