I can't believe I made two pies this week. The person that doesn't make pie. I guess the Boozy Pumpkin Eggnog pie from the other day gave me so much pie making confidence that I thought, " why not make a second pie for Pie Week". I am an overachiever like that. Plus I had a second pie crust leftover. And a persimmon pear brandy pie just sounded so good, I had to make it.
I was considering making my mom's Dutch apple pie that she makes for Thanksgiving every year, but since this month all of my Thanksgiving recipes have been hers, The Best Ever Cranberry Chutney, The Salmon Mousse Dip and the Boozy Pumpkin Eggnog pie, why not branch out and create my own pie??
I am by no means a pie expert now. And I think after making these two pies this week and I check " Make a pie" off my culinary bucket list ( I think I have that on the list) and leave the pie making to the experts. The flavor of this pie? Amazing. Did I eat the crust? No. Did the back fall down when I cut my slice and I used like 6 toothpicks to keep it in place to make for pretty picture? Maybe. Did I use too much crumble topping? Possibly. Were the vanilla bean in the crumble topping and the brandy in the fruit mixture very good decisions? Absolutely.
It is no secret I am a HUGE fan of persimmons. I am on the fence about pears. I actually like them better baked than eaten raw. Unless they are schmeared with goat cheese and wrapped with prosciutto. Yum. There are so many different varieties of pears; some are great for baking and hold up really well, others are much better raw and turn into complete mush when baked, those are good for making pear sauce. I used Bosc pears here since they are one of the better varieties for baking and the ones I chose weren't ripe yet so they stayed a lot firmer when baked. The persimmons I used are the Fuyu variety and they have the same level of firmness as the unripe pears so they were a great match in this pie.
There are two main types of persimmon, the Fuyu and the Hachiya. I have only ever tried the Hachiya variety once. They have to be almost mushy to be ripe and I didn't care for the texture. I love Fuyu and when we were at the farmers market the other day they had a variety called Persionnamons. A more cinnamony flavored fuyu. I didn't get any but I think I might try them next week.
If you look closely you can see the little black specks of the vanilla bean in the crumble topping. This is similar to the crumble topping used on coffee cakes and the New York Style crumble cakes. My mom's dutch apple pie has a similar crumble topping but I believe it has brown sugar in it and since I wanted the vanilla beans to stand out I only used granulated sugar. I am a huge fan of mixing vanilla beans in sugar for baked goods recipes. I usually save the pods in my container of sugar to make it more fragrant, or I add to my jar of homemade vanilla extract or I leave the pods in a jar in my kitchen window to dry and leave a nice scent in my kitchen.
Persimmon and Pear Brandy Pie with Vanilla Bean Crumble
Ingredients
- 1 9 ” pie crust ready made or scratch made, unbaked
- 4 Bosc pears
- 4 Fuyu Persimmons
- ¾ c granulated sugar I use Zulka
- 3 tablespoon arrowroot starch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground all spice
- ⅓ c brandy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crumble topping
- 2 vanilla beans
- ½ c sugar
- 1 ½ c all-purpose flour
- ½ c butter 4 ounces, very cold and cut into small pieces
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 Deg F. Place pie pan on a large sheet of foil, so you can wrap the edges of the pie with the foil if they start to get too brown during baking.
- Prepare your pie crust if making from scratch.
For the pie filling
- In a large bowl combine the sugar, starch and spices. Mix to combine.
- Peel and slice the persimmons and pears in half. Remove cores, stems, seeds. Quarter and cut into thin slices. Add to the bowl with the sugar mix and stir to combine. Add in the vanilla extract and brandy and let sit 15 min to release juices from the fruit
Make the crumble topping
- In a medium bowl add the sugar. Scrape the seeds out of the two vanilla bean pods and add to the sugar. Rub the sugar and vanilla bean seeds between your fingers to evenly distribute, and it is very fragrant. Add in the flour, salt and butter. Mix the topping with your hands to distribute the butter until it forms medium sized crumbs, the size of a large pea.
Finish the pie
- Add the fruit mixture to the pie crust, pouring over any liquid left in the bowl over the fruit. Cover the pie with the crumble topping
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the top starts to brown and some of the juices bubble out. If the top is getting too brown place a piece of foil over the top.
- Let cool completely before serving.
Notes
On a cold rainy day like today, a slice of persimmon pear brandy pie with a hot cup of tea totally hits the spot!!
And once again all the amazing pies for Pie Week!!
Monday 11/18
Kirsten / Comfortably Domestic – Mile High Apple Pie
Katie / The Hill Country Cook – New Mexico Apple Pie
Anne / From My Sweet Heart – Cranberry Cherry Ricotta Pie
Haley / The Girlie Girl Cooks – Coconut Cream Pie
Tuesday 11/19
Jeanne / Inside NanaBread’s Head – Black and White Coconut Tart
Mads / La Petite Pancake – Pineapple Pie
Monica / The Grommom – Papaya Pie
Wednesday 11/20
Carrie / Bakeaholic Mama – Chocolate Cream Pie
Kat / Tenaciously Yours – Grandma’s Chocolate Pie
Kirsten / Comfortably Domestic – Maple Sweet Potato Pie with Toasted Swiss Meringue
Thursday 11/21
Shanna / Pineapple Coconut – Boozy Pumpkin Egg Nog Pie (That's Me!!)
Carrie / Bakeaholic Mama – Sweet Potato Tartlets
Christina / Buffy and George - Deep Dish Apple Pie
Friday 11/22
Madeline / Munchin in the Mitten – Sweet Potato Pie
Allison / Decadent Philistines - Refrigerator Pumpkin Porter Chocolate Pie with Toasted Pumpkin Marshmallow "Meringue"
Lauren / Climbing Grier Mountain - Mini Butternut Squash Pie Stacks with Marshmallow Frosting
Saturday 11/23
Megan / Country Cleaver - Biscoff Pie with Whiskey Mallow Fluff
Shanna / Pineapple Coconut - Persimmon, Pear and Brandy Pie with Vanilla Bean Crumble (Me again!!)
Kirsten / Comfortably Domestic – Very Berry Cherry Pie
Yasamin says
Hello, what can be used instead of brandy? Thank you
Shanna says
You can use bourbon or rum or omit it completely if you like.