This apple pie is an incredibly gorgeous dessert, with raspberries, an almond crust with sesame seeds, a lattice top, and a juicy ruby filling. It's a delicious way to use your sweet summer berries, but it also works great with frozen raspberries. You can also use your favorite traditional pie crust for a more classic pie.
Unique and gorgeous fruit pie
This twist on a classic apple pie is worth trying.
I posted this more than a decade ago when, together with a group of bloggers, I made the same recipe and posted our results. This was called a crostata, which can be Italian for lattice pie.
The word crostata can also be used for a galette, a free-form fruit tart in which no pie pan is used. You can also make this pie that way, using a traditional pie crust and without lining the dish or making a lattice crust. Much easier!
The crust has sesame seeds and is very interesting, not only in flavor but also in texture. More crumbly than sturdier doughs, it adds an unexpected earthy flavor that beautifully complements the acidity and sweetness of the filling.
It's a more sophisticated option to the apple raspberry crumble bars or this festive apple pie with cranberries with a classic crust I make for the holidays whenever I can get cranberries, as they're not common here.
Sesame dough
Though I have added this and that to doughs before, this one has sesame seeds, an ingredient I often use but never in this way.
Let me tell you about the crunchiness the seeds generate after the pie is baked! It turned out to be a fantastic idea.
- The dough is much more rustic than regular traditional flaky dough. That means it will break more and you'll need to handle it differently because of that. I find it easier to line the pan in parts, which is no issue, really, since pie dough can be patched up easily.
- Keep it cold until you need to roll it. Then refrigerate the lined pan for 30 minutes, or better yet, freeze it for 15 minutes before baking. It's easier and faster.
Lattice top crust
I recommend you roll it, cut it on a board and take it back to the fridge for a few minutes for it to harden and lift up easily. That way, you'll end up with fewer broken strips. If that happens, they can be patched together. Look at my lattice and see how it is patched up. And then feel like you can't make a more rustic or irregular lattice, lol!
Or omit stripes and go all-in with stars, hearts, braids, and so on. Whatever is your jam.
Food processor pie crust
I made this dough in the food processor from beginning to end, as I do with most doughs. You can make it by hand, in a bowl with a pastry cutter.
It comes together in a few minutes. It needs to be refrigerated before rolling it and fitting it into the pan. This is because it uses all butter and also because the dough needs to relax after the stress of being swirled in the processor.
And it turned out to be slightly crumbly like a peanut butter cookie dough sometimes is.
But no biggie-just patch it up if it breaks while trying to fit it into the pie plate. You won't have to use pie weights or pre-bake it, so the dough will not shrink. The whole thing is assembled-raw dough and cooked ruby-colored filling-and then chilled before going into the oven.
Apple raspberry filling
Mixing apples and raspberries was a last-minute idea because I didn't want to make an apple pie. I wanted it to be more colorful and add something different, the same way the sesame was already contributing to the crust.
Well, it was a winning combination! The color is fantastic, and the two fruits work wonders together.
The amounts in the recipe can be varied, more of this or less of that. Consider the liquid in them, especially if the raspberries are frozen.
What else can I tell you about this crostata? Oh yes, it tastes as good as it looks. So I hope you feel it looks that way.
Pan variations
- Make individual pies.
- Make a galette in a pie plate. Galette, or free-form pie, means that the dough isn't fitted into a pan. That sounds counterintuitive, but what I mean is to use the pie dish as a container because the dough is crumbly. Don't make a lattice or care about the sides. Simply fold the hanging dough inward over some of the filling. If it leaks, you on a pie plate.
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Apple Raspberry Pie (Crostata)
Ingredients
For the dough:
- ¾ cup whole almonds
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
For the filling:
- 1 pound Granny Smith apples, about 5, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- ½ pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest, packed
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
For the dough:
- Lightly toast ¾ cup whole almonds and ½ cup sesame seeds, being careful not to burn them. Let them cool. You can use them raw, but toasting develops a great flavor.
- Food processor: put both in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, and add 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Process until medium ground.
- Add the rest of the sugar, 2 cups all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon salt and process until well blended.
- Scatter cold, diced 1 cup unsalted butter on top and process until it looks like coarse sand.
- Mix 2 large eggs in a bowl with ½ teaspoon vanilla and add to the flour mixture.
- Process until it starts to come together, about 10 to 15 seconds. Don't let it turn into a ball.
- By hand: follow the same process as with the food processor, but mix ingredients in a bowl. Integrate the butter with your hands or a dough cutter.
- For both ways: transfer the shaggy mass onto a lightly floured counter.
- Gather into a ball touching the dough as little as possible. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.
To assemble:
- When the filling is cooling, take the dough from the refrigerator and divide it into two uneven pieces (⅔ and ⅓). Keep the smaller piece refrigerated and covered while you roll the other one.
- Roll the large piece to about ¼ of an inch with a lightly floured rolling pin, using additional flour to prevent sticking.
- Transfer it to a 9-inch (24cm) pie plate with a removable bottom. It is best to make it fit in the pan without stretching it, removing excess dough. As this dough is very crumbly, you may need to patch it or do it in parts.
- Add the filling and spread to cover the whole pan.
- Roll the small piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and cut strips with a pizza cutter.
- Make a lattice top crust over the filling, adding strips one way and then the other. Press where the strips meet the bottom dough to adhere.
- Freeze the assembled pie for 10-15 minutes (or refrigerate for 30 minutes if you have no other option).
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (180°C).
- Take the pie from the freezer, sprinkle 2 tablespoons light brown sugar on top of the lattice, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden and the filling is bubbly.
- Let cool completely on wire rack. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you want to. Refrigerate leftovers, covered.
For the filling:
- In a large saucepan, put 1 pound Granny Smith apples, ½ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, 1 tablespoon butter and cook over low heat until butter melts and fruit begins to release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add ½ pound raspberries and stir lightly. Remove from the heat as soon as it bubbles again.
- If not using immediately, keep refrigerated, covered, for a few days.
Notes
Adapted from Baking with Julia, by Dorie Greenspan
Hetty says
Can this filling be canned
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Hetty, I never canned it, but you shouldn't have any problem if you follow safe canning instructions.
mividaenundulce says
Me encanta ese libro, y esta receta me parece fabulosa, mira que mezclar manzanas y frambuesas no se me había ocurrido, y me encanta el color rojo que le da.
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
Paula,
oh my gawd! Toasted almonds and sesame seeds in the dough??!!! I LOVE this! and yes, it looks SO GOOD. Beautiful. I love rustic looking pies. . so unique and gorgeous! this one is so lovely. . I can't say enough. . damn, Paula. . I have like 6 of your recipes I need to make asap when I get home!!! Love this! can't wait to try this pie crust!!
Patty Price says
Love your crostata Paula! The color of the filling is outstanding-rustic fruit desserts are my all time favorites!
e / dig in says
HOW DID I MISS THIS ONE???? looks divine paula. and sesame seeds in the pastry? i have never heard of that. the filling looks amazing.
Shulie Foodwanderings says
This crostata is breathtaking Paula. Absolutely stunning.
Kathy says
My husband is dieting, so I skipped this one. However, after seeing yours I will be making it very soon! Beautiful, Paula! The crust looks gorgeous!
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
Just gorgeous, Paula! I love the nutty crust.
laurasmess says
What a beautiful crostata Paula. I love the gorgeously rustic, seeded pastry, the crimson apples... everything. I actually love the fact that you cut the pie whilst it was still warm. The bleeding apple and raspberry filling looks lovely in the photos (just like I'd want to eat it, preferably with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!). Thanks for sharing this beautiful post with us. No idea how you keep producing such glorious recipes... you're one of my foodie heroes Paula! xx