Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Crumb Pie Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between apple crumb pie and Dutch apple pie? ›

Truly the only difference between your traditional pie and a Dutch Apple Pie is the topping. Dutch Apple or Apple Crumble Pie is simply an apple pie with a crumb or streusel topping as opposed to a pastry crust topping.

Let me fill you in: dutch apple pie is traditionally made with a streusel topping made up of butter, flour, brown sugar and sometimes, nuts or oats. It's just slightly sweeter than traditional apple pies made with a lattice crust or regular crust on top and perfect with ice cream on top.

The starch and pectin in the filling needs to set. If you add cornstarch or flour to the filling it gels st oven temperatures and sets once it has cooled. The same is true for the natural pectin in many fruits. If you cut the pie before the filling has set, it will never solidify and your pie will be runny.

The pie will be just fine on the counter, but only for a day or two, at which point it needs to go into the fridge. The sugar and acid in apple pie will slow down bacteria growth in that 1-2 day period, but all bets are off after that.

If you don't bake your pie at a high enough temp your thickener doesn't get to the necessary temperature for a long enough time to thicken your filling. Also, that high temp is needed to get your pie crust light & flaky. If needed, use a pie shield to help protect your crust from burning.

If it is not going to be eaten within 2 days, yes, it should be refrigerated. The moisture of the apple filling at room temperature will encourage mold growth. Why do some pies have to be kept in the freezer? Some pies are made with ice cream or other frozen dessert.

"Dutch apple pie is not Dutch,” says Peter Rose, a food historian and author specializing in Dutch cuisine. The claim can be made that modern Dutch apple pie actually has French-colonist-in-Pennsylvania origins.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

Should you cook the apples before baking apple pie? You don't have to pre-cook the filling before spooning it into the pie crust, but it's a quick step I recommend. Just 5 minutes on the stove begins the softening process, and also helps the flavors start to mingle.

The best way to thicken runny apple pie filling before baking it is to add some cornstarch, tapioca starch, or flour to your mix. To fix a runny pie that's already been baked, simply let it cool to see if it will congeal naturally. If not, you can stick it back in the oven for a bit longer.

What is one thing you should not do when making pie crust? ›

Apples, Cheese, and Law

According to law firm Nicolet Law, it's often cited that Wisconsin legally requires apple pie to be served with a slice of cheese. While that's not a bad idea and does sound very Wisconsin, it's not a law. But Wisconsin did come pretty close to it back in the 1930's.

What Makes it “Dutch”? The unique crumb topping of butter, sugar, and flour is what sets this dessert apart. While traditional apple pie boasts a regular double crust (a crust on the bottom and a crust on top), a Dutch apple pie has a regular bottom crust, but a crumble topping.

Like an apple crisp, an apple crumble is a baked fruit dessert with a layer of topping. But unlike the crisp, the crumble topping rarely includes oats or nuts. Instead, a crumble's topping is more like streusel, made with flour, sugar and butter.

Both are very similar apple desserts, but the difference mainly comes down to the crumble topping: Instead of the flour and oat mixture used in an apple crisp, an apple brown betty uses breadcrumbs for its crumbly, delicious topping.

Dutch apple pie, like so many other American traditions, is a combining of cultures. Basically, it's like traditional Apple Pie (which is French, using pie crust) and Apple Crisp (which is German/Dutch, using streusel on top) got busy and had a pastry-bottomed, crumb streusel-topped baby.