Everything Fruit Pie with a Cinnamon Crumble Topping
This pie is to 'use up' lots of different fruit. Over the course of a couple months I'd toss 'extra' fruit into the freezer. I also had extra jars of home canned apples I wanted to use up. I also had bought our favorite frozen fruit mixture at the store many times, but the peaches in frozen fruit mixes are always terrible - never ripe or sweet - so the peaches area always picked out and tossed into a ziplock in the freezer to use for other things. Like this pie.
Into a big pan on the stove I added a bunch of fruit. Everything I had on hand that needed to be used that could go into a fruit pie. This time the mixture was/is: apples, cranberries, strawberries, rhubarb, peaches, mango and... maybe something else. I can't remember. Brought to a boil, then reduce to be simmered on the stove with sugar and cinnamon added, along with a cornstarch/water slurry to thicken. I didn't want to use it right then so I let it cool, refrigerated it, and put it into a food sealed bag and popped it back into the freezer.
I tossed the bag into the refrigerator last week to thaw and sit until needed. Yesterday was a pie making day.
1 unbaked pie crust
Crumble topping (recipe below)
Fruit of choice, with sweetener and flour to thicken (you could also use just apples, apples and cranberries, blueberries, etc)
Topping:
12 T sugar
6 T butter
1/2 c flour
6 T quick cook oatmeal
3 t cinnamon
1/4 t dried lemon zest
Crumbled together with your fingers, a fork, or pulsed a few times in a food processor. Crumble onto your unbaked pie and bake as directed.
Baked at 350 for about 45 minutes. Cool completely.
Pumpkin Pie
2 eggs
3/4 c brown sugar
5 oz. evaporated milk
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ginger
1/8 t nutmeg
(or just use about 2 t pumpkin pie spice instead of all the above)
2 T boiling water
1 t vanilla extract
1 2/3 c pumpkin puree
1/4 c half and half
1 pie shell, unbaked
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put the pie crust into your pan.
In a food processor or a bowl, beat the eggs, add the sugar, milk, spices and boiling water. Beat. Add the pumpkin and half and half, beat again briefly just to smooth. Pour into your pie shell.
Bake 15 minutes at 425. Lower the temp to 300 and continue to bake until the center is 'set' - about 30 minutes. Cool completely. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
