French Apple-Custard Pie with an Almond Streusel

Apple pie is an all American iconic favorite. This French Apple-Custard Pie kicks it up a few notches by adding a creamy vanilla custard to sautéed apples, then topping it with a crunchy almond streusel. This makes an elegant dessert, perfect for a holiday dessert table.

I rarely meet someone who doesn’t adore apple pie. So, please forgive me when I admit that I’m not one of them. Don’t get me wrong! I don’t dislike it. I just adore Lemon Meringue Pie or Banana Cream Pie above all kinds of pie.

On the other hand, my husband (who I adore more than any kind of pie) loves berry pie and apple pie. This pie, however, has changed my mind about apple pie. You see, I’m a sucker for custard. It’s that creamy texture that I’m drawn to. This French Apple Pie has so many textures– from sliced apples, to creamy custard and then a crunchy almond-sugar streusel. Oh my!

Fall apples are readily available– and organically grown is even better. I bought a mixture of Granny Smith, Braeburn and Honey Crisp and decided that an apple pie would be my husband’s surprise dessert.

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets (…and I have too many a lot of them) is this apple slicer/corer. It sure makes prepping the apples a breeze!

You can buy store bought pie crust, but I’ve stopped doing that years ago! I make my own pie crusts now that I have mastered a few successful techniques (and you can view that post here). I prefer an all-butter pie crust most of the time. See those chunks of ice cold butter? That’s good! As the butter melts in the oven, it releases steam and that creates layers! It might take a little bit of practice, trial and error and some patience– but once you learn how to roll a pie crust, you will never go back! I actually find it fun to roll pie crust dough. I’ve blind baked the crust (fancy work for baking a pie crust shell) and now it’s time to make the filling:

To some melted butter, and a little sugar, the apples are sauteed until just soft (not mushy).

Don’t ask me why, but I had an unopened bottle of Calvados (Apple Brandy) in my pantry that I decided to use, instead of rum (or apple juice).

I added just one tablespoon of Calvados.

So, here comes my favorite part– the custard! to eggs, egg yolks, heavy cream and vanilla, freshly grated nutmeg is added and whisked together.

Nice and thick! Pour this all over the apples…

The oven is preheated to 325F and the pie is baked for about 30 minutes. For “insurance” I place the pie on a parchment sheet lined baking sheet– just in case it spills over.

While the pie filling is baking, it’s time to make the Almond-Streusel topping– butter, sliced almonds, sugar and a pinch of salt

Remove the partially baked pie, and add the streusel topping. (You can see that I’ve added a pie shield to prevent the crust from turning too dark.)

Return the pie to the oven for about 20 additional minutes, until the custard is almost set– but a little jiggly.

Oh my! Can you see that custard peeking out? Here’s the hard part: you need to let this pie cool for at least 4 hours. Overnight is even better.

…even then, I realized that the custard will still a bit loose. So, I refrigerated the pie overnight. The next day, I allowed the pie to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then, I sliced into it. Wait for it…

Bingo! Creamy, luscious custard. So, how was it?

TASTING NOTES: I could taste the apple brandy, so if this flavor doesn’t appeal to you– leave it out! (Next time, I’ll try a little rum.) The apples had a slight “al dente” texture to them– meaning they were soft will a slight crunch in the center. My husband, and guests, liked it a lot. The custard was really good! The streusel added a nice element of crunch from the sugar and the almonds. It’s a lovely pie that is certainly elegant for a dinner party, for sure.