There are two things we have a lot of in our family: frozen apples from our backyard apple trees, and Germans. Even our last two exchange-students have spoken German and love apples!
Would you like to try a cultural treat this year, and use up some of your freezer-apples? I have just the thing: Kaiser-Schmarnn Pie. Our German exchange daughter first introduced me to Kaiser-Schmarnn, which is a homemade “scratched” pancake dish with homemade applesauce or “apfelmousse.” It is so delicious, we asked her to make it several times.
Recently, I decided to try something different, and came up with a yummy pie version of Kaiser-Schmarnn. Now I’m the sort of baker who flies by the seat of her pants. I don’t measure ingredients, and sure don’t follow recipes too often. So, if you’re a precision-enthusiast, I apologize for my lack of fine detail in these directions. Here is my guesstimated ingredient list:
- A couple pounds of peeled, cored, and sliced apples (thawed).
- A half-cup of lemon juice
- A half-cup of water
- A cup of flour of your choice (rice flour works fine if you’re gluten-free)
- Some sort of pie crust (my family loves graham cracker)
- Half-cup of brown or organic sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground clove
- Ground ginger
Directions (and remember, these are “loose”):
Combine apples, lemon juice and water in a pot, and bring to a simmer. Once you see the apples start to soften and release juice, toss in the flour, sugar, cinnamon, clove, and ginger to taste (to your preference). Stir it all together and remove from heat.
Next, pour the hot mixture into the pie crust and place it in a 350 degree oven. This is where it gets a bit tricky. You need to check the pie often. You know it’s nearly done when the floury “goop” has set firm on top. Once the top is firm, give it five more minutes in the oven. The crust should be golden brown around the edges, too.
Let the pie cool for about 30 minutes, and enjoy. It’s great with vanilla ice cream.
