This apple quince pie jazzes up classic apple pie with the addition of spiced poached quinces, all tucked into a flaky gluten-free pie crust. Adapted from my cookbook Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert with Gluten-Free Grains and Flours.
I love a good apple pie, such as this paleo apple pie in an almond flour crust. But when I want to make it even more delicious, I add flavorful poached quinces. Quinces are delicious paired with apples, and here they add a lovely pink hue and richly floral flavor to this lattice pie. Better yet, it's gluten-free thanks to my favorite GF pie crust, which is sturdy enough to weave into a lattice.
This recipe was inspired by a heavenly apple-quince pie that I made when I worked as a pastry cook at the famed restaurant (now sadly closed) Farallon. They were individual double-crust pies, warmed to order, and topped with a scoop of spiced walnut ice cream. It was one of the best desserts I've ever had.
I'm sharing a full-sized version here that's simple enough to make in your own home. That said, it's easiest if you start the day before, poaching the quinces and making the pie crust, which both benefit from a rest overnight (and so will you!).
Poached Quince
While I was writing Alternative Baker, one unexpected perk of the recipe testing process was PRESENTS from my lovely testers. One amazing tester sent a huge box full of homegrown pomes from her orchard – quinces, pears, and several varieties of apple, some with pretty leaves still attached. Another sent jars of the most delicious homemade jams. And another sent a jar of preserved figs from her tree.
I was like, you guys are doing me a favor, I should be sending you gifts! If I were more adept at canning and gift-giving, I would send 50 jars of these poached quinces to all my lovely testers.
Instead, I just baked them all into this pie which I then ate. I'm sorry.
If you're a better gift-giver than myself, these poached quinces make a lovely present that can be eaten with cheese and crackers, diced over breakfast yogurt or porridge, or tossed into any apple dessert for a little oomph of flavor.
Quinces, which look like knobby, chartreuse apples, are in the rose family, which you wouldn't know by looking them, but which becomes apparent when you cook the crap out of them and they magically turn bright pink. Their astringent flesh turns as soft as a ripe pear, with tropical, floral notes that pair well with vanilla bean, ginger, and fall spices.
Plus, leftover poaching liquid makes a delicious soda when thinned with fizzy water and poured over ice (gin is optional!).
Gluten Free Pie Crust
Over the summer, I got inspired by all the handsome lattice pies on the interwebs to give it a go with my gluten-free crust. Since my gluten free pie crust is made with lots of whole grain flours and no gums, I thought it would be too fragile to weave into a lattice (hence the lovely cut-out crust that graces the cover of my cookbook).
But I was wrong! Lately, I've been making my gluten free pie crust dough in the food processor, skipping my usual fraisage step (a classic French technique where you smear the dough along the counter) but still giving it a few turns alla puff pastry. The dough starts out crumbly and cracky, but by the end, it's nearly as pliable as wheat dough, and amenable to weaving. The finished product is a bit more tender and a little less flaky than dough made by hand and fraisaged, but it gets the job done. And it makes a delicious vehicle for gluten free apple pie.
For this gluten free apple pie, I took the filling from the apple crumble pie in Alternative Baker, added some sliced poached quinces, and folded the whole thing into a lattice crust. It has a classic apple pie vibe, only with a burst of rosy quinces adding their unique floral flavor to the mix. Slices are warm-tasting and homey, particularly with scoops of drippy vanilla ice cream (though around here, pie is game for breakfast as well as dessert).
The Best Apples for Baking Pie
Firm, tart apples make the best bakers because they keep their shape even after a long bake and their acidity holds up well to added sweetness. Here are some of my favorite varieties for this gluten free apple pie and other apple desserts:
- Granny Smith – the tartest of the bunch and easy to find
- Honeycrisp – crisp, juicy, and great for eating too
- Pink Lady – sweet and crisp
- Winesap – an heirloom variety with lots of floral notes
- Belle De Boskoop – another heirloom variety with sturdy, tart flesh
Serving Suggestions
This pie likes something creamy to round out the flavors. Here are some favorite pairings:
- whipped mascarpone cream
- homemade vanilla ice cream
- fresh ginger ice cream
- coconut whipped cream (for dairy-free)
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this gluten-free apple and quince pie, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Apple & Quince Pie with a Gluten-Free Crust
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Crust & Quinces (can be made ahead):
- Double recipe Gluten-Free Pie Dough, prepared using the buttermilk and food processor variations and with the optional "roll, fold, roll" step x2
- Oat flour, for dusting
- 2 cups (370 g) drained and sliced poached or roasted quinces
Filling:
- 2 ¼ lb (1 kg) tart, firm baking apples, such as Granny Smith (6–8 medium apples)
- ⅔ cup (135 g) light brown sugar
- Finely grated zest from 1⁄2 large lemon
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) strained lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons (9 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) milk or cream, for brushing the dough
- 1 tablespoon coarse or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Instructions
Prepare Things
- Make a double batch of the gluten-free pie crust dough as directed. Shape half of the dough into a 9- or 10-inch crust as directed but leave the edges overhanging by 1 inch. Chill until needed.
- Prepare the poached or roasted quinces as directed.
- When ready to bake, position a rack in the lower third of the oven, place a baking stone on the rack if you have one, and preheat to 425ºF.
Make the filling
- For the filling, peel the apples, cut them off the core, and slice them a scant 1⁄4-inch (6-mm) thick. You should have 6 cups (900 g) total.
- Place the apple slices in a large bowl and gently toss with the brown sugar, lemon zest and juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, then gently toss in the sliced quinces. Pour the fruit and their juices into the unbaked crust, packing the fruit into the crust.
- Roll the second half of the dough into a 12-14” round about 3/8” thick. Cut the dough into 8 strips of the same width. Place 4 strips over the fruit, spaced evenly apart. Now weave the lattice: fold two of the strips back halfway, and lay a strip over the flat strips, crosswise. Unfold those two strips, then fold back the other strips, and lay another strip across the flat strips. Repeat with the remaining two strips. (If that makes no sense, watch this video!)
- Trim the edges of the strips to a ½” overhang. Fold the bottom crust overhang over itself and the edges of the lattice strips, and use your fingers to flute the dough. Chill the pie in the refrigerator or freezer until firm, 10-20 minutes, then brush the top with the milk or cream and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
- Place the pie on the lined baking sheet and place in the oven on the baking stone. Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 375ºF and continue baking until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling furiously, 40–60 more minutes.
- Let the pie cool completely to set the fruit, at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours, then cut into wedges and serve at room temperature, with scoops of ice cream if you like. The pie is best the day of baking and will keep at room temperature for up to 1 day or refrigerated for up to 3 days.
~Tha~Golden~Lady~ says
Gosh that's an apple pie !!
Well done, it looks so yummy and pictures are absolutely brilliant :) x
http://www.thagoldenlady.com
DeA says
Interestingly, I like getting anything made with quince. Or figs. They dont grow well in my part of the world (Washington State) I like giving really chunky granola in a large mason jar.
Shosh C says
Seasonally, I enjoy making yummy applesauce using berries to add an interesting flavor. This is a gift my friends wait for each year!
Janet says
Wait, are you saying that when you have pie for breakfast you don't put ice cream on it? Making a note of that. Must be a West Coast thing.
Some of us who were drowning in apples and quinces last year can only sigh over their pictures this year, but I am still excited to try the dough in a food processor and see if I can weave it! Lovely post. Cries out for Smell-O-Vision, though your purty snaps nearly have it.
Leslie Noson says
I will have to call my friend to see if I can get quinces from her bush. Never see them in the stores. Once I made batches of Lynn Rosetto Kaspar's recipe for Sicilian Sauce, an agrodolce tomato jam with orange peel for everyone for Christmas and another time made rhubarb conserva with orange and lemon peel for all. Any homemade gift is a delight in our house. Thanks for the pear/blackberry crisp recipe. It is delicious!
Abby @ Heart of a Baker says
Gah, I always forget about gifts until the last minute, so I need to get better at this! I've learned I just need to give food gifts, because who doesn't like those?!
Leslie says
Every year we eagerly await the arrival of the sweet spicy pecans my coworker makes! None of my own homemade food gifts have ever matched them.
Ruth says
Oh oh my.... read this post before breakfast and now I'm salivating and needing pie for breakfast stat!! Pie should be it's own food group. Just sayin'.
A friend of mine is a homemade jam-making wiz and once gave me a "breakfast basket" with mixed berry jam, a jar of pancake baking mix and the cutest pancake accessories including a spatula and whisk! (Girl, since I know you're reading this - I'm all out of jam ;)
Lili @ Travelling oven says
Oh my, this pie looks absolutely perfect! I've never made anything with quinces before and I should definitely change that soon. I keep saying this but I have to say one more time how much I love your book, I can't stop looking at those gorgeous photos!!! :-)
Katherine says
I've been giving away homemade caramels - about a dozen varieties - for a few years now. I love making them and they are always a hit!
Emily says
After reading so many glowing reviews of your book, I've got it on my list of presents to buy myself for Christmas this year. :) I've been such an admirer of your work from afar. Your lattice looks absolutely perfect and such a lovely addition to add quince with the apples. I also am a big food gift giver- last year it was spiced nuts with homemade chocolate hazelnut butter. Need to start brainstorming for this year!
Hillary says
Since I live in the Pacific Northwest I love giving hazelnuts that I get from the local growers. They aren't cheap and unless you live locally some people have never really been able to experience them.
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect says
This poached quince recipe is a godsend and has come at just the right time! I have a quince tree that is heaving with fruit! Do you just use the quinces for cooking with? Or would you eat them cold as well? Also how long do they keep in their poaching liquor? is it 2 weeks? Or do I have to wait 2 weeks before eating them?
The pie looks fantastic, well done, it's gorgeous!
Alanna says
Yay! So glad I could help. ;) The quinces keep in their poaching liquid for about 2 weeks in the fridge; you can eat them anytime! They're nice with cheese and crackers, diced on toast with goat cheese or cream cheese, or over yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast. Or in this cake. You can also puree the quinces and use the puree anywhere you would a jam, such as rolled up in a roulade cake, in thumbprint cookies, or jam bars. I want to try adding the poached quince to a custardy tart like the peach one in my book, too. So many options!
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect says
Thank you Alanna, I have reserved about 14 quinces to poach them and use for baking and I have pureed 3kgs of the stuff, some for membrillo, some for quince butter (never tried it, but saw an interesting recipe) and some I will keep and use as you have suggested. You have a wonderful blog!
Allyson (Considering The Radish) says
Ah, I relate to everything in this post. I'm so bad at giving gifts- I have the present I bought for my sister's birthday in May still unwrapped in my bedroom. I've been thinking of making salts and infused honeys for Christmas this year, but these quinces sound absolutely amazing. And this pie looks delicious- ugh.
Calvaleigh Rasmussen says
Ooh--fun! I would eat the hell out of this pie!
Food-related gifts...I think that the best food-ish gift I have given were, although cliche, the MASSIVE quantities of Christmas cookies I made last year. My grandma used to make giant platters of Christmas cookies that she would gift to everyone around Christmas time, and I thought it was time to revive the tradition. Starting around December 1st, there was suddenly no room in our house because platters of Christmas cookies were covering every single surface. I made more gingerbread "things" with rude parts, than anyone on the face of the Earth ever has before, and thumbprint cookies with chocolate in the center, and Linzer cookies, with a multitude of jams, and Russian Tea Cakes (which started the eternal debate of whether they are actually Mexican Wedding Cookies,) and chocolate cookies, and butterscotch cookies, and Tollhouse cookies, and cookies with dried cherries, and (rudely) iced sugar cookies. In the end, although I gave most of these cookies away, I somehow ended up at the houses of several of these people, or in situations where they'd been brought around...so I ended up eating most of the cookies. Somehow, even though I ate more cookies last Christmas than ever before, I still am not sick of cookies. That would be the impossible.
Jonathan says
Looks great, and we have a gluten free friend coming over for dinner tomorrow - perfect timing! I feel you on gift giving, and usually do food items as well. Nice personal touch, and I can do a lot at once. One year we actually thought ahead (first, last, only time...) and picked up about 15 pounds of cherries at peak season, pitted, brandied, and canned them. 5 months later, they made great holiday gifts!
Sarah says
My favorite foodie gift I received was jars of fudge sauce made by my sister in law, using her mom's secret recipe. YUM.
Claudia | The Brick Kitchen says
Oh quince are the best! Once I cooked them for almost 5 hours in the oven, submerged in poaching liquid, and they almost turned completely blood red - perfect for a frangipane tart. I wish they were in season in this part of the world! That melty scoop of vanilla ice cream and warm pie looks insanely good - I just wish I had a slice in front of me <3
tamika says
I love receiving annual gifts of homegrown/homemade Fig Butter and Lemon Marmalades my aunt sends me from California. I love giving gifts of GF Cookies!
Shuka says
I love giving away my homemade granola. It's my fave because everyone loves getting granola especially if you're a student and hate waking up hungry with no groceries in the house (which is too common). I love receiving chocolate chip cookies. Or.....if I want to be spoiled little cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. :-)
Jennifer says
My goodness, I would love to receive a gift of these beautiful poached quinces!! My favorite gift to give is homemade limoncello, using the lemons from our backyard tree.
Dana says
Giving food gifts can be so tricky! That being said, it's hard to go wrong with sweets :) My favorite I've ever received was a hand decorated box filled with a dozen homemade Italian holiday cookies. It was festive and delicious.
I'm such a huge fan of your blog! Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes.
Helen Ivanov says
Macarons are a great fancy food gift to give and to get. Jam, jelly, and fruit butter are also a favorite food gift to receive.
Erin Compton says
Food gifts are the BEST!!!! My go to gift for any kind of party is a cinnamon and walnut laced sour cream coffee cake. It works for brunch or an early dinner, or the hosts can enjoy it the next morning with coffee while cleaning up or recovering from an indulgent night.
On the receiving end, I'm not choosy. I love food that someone takes the time to make for me.
traci | VanillaAndBean says
I've only had quince paste and have looked for them fresh, but have been unsuccessful. Tho, I'm on a mission because THIS PIE!! Fabulous lattice work with your GF flours too! My favorite foodie gift? It has to be shortbread... all kinds, but bourbon vanilla bean is my favorite. Thank you for this beauty my dear!
Kristin says
So excited to make this if I can ever find quince here! I would be thrilled to receive any gift made with quince:)
Chelsea | Baked Greens says
My sister and I make chocolate pecan turtles and peanut butter cups as a Christmas gift for our dad every year. He's been requesting them for the past decade, with no sign of stopping any time soon.
Calvaleigh Rasmussen says
Actually, now that I think about it, my favorite gifts every year are the birthday cakes I make for my parents. This tradition started out as a bit of a joke, because every year, my dad would say "for my birthday, all I want is German Chocolate Cake." Which we all got pretty sick of after years and years of it. His mom would make it for him every year though. When she died, I took over, having been the cake maven in high school (I used to make INTENSELY boozy birthday cakes for all of my friends in order to "sneak" booze into school...ya know...because that's apparently what you should do in high school. *smirk*) I never used "German Chocolate," and would substitute snazzier brands instead, and futz with the cake recipes to get them richer and more chocolatey, but would always make the gooey, coconut pecan frosting. After a while though, my dad eventually admitted that he too, no matter how high falutin' the German Chocolate Cake was...was tired of it. So, I started coming up with different ones. My mom got a little jealous I think, because suddenly the only gift SHE wanted was a fancy birthday cake too. Over the past few years, I've done countless, overly decorated, multi-layer birthday cakes: Chai-Maple-Spice Cake, a Lemon Cake with sculpted marzipan lemons, soaked in limoncello, a mint cake with mint leaves and cacao nibs (and brandy,) an Orange Blossom Cake with orange blossoms, Cointreau, and orange zest, (served alongside a recording of "The Orange Blossom Special,") Almond Cake with slivered almonds, amaretto frosting, and marzipan, a Dark Chocolate Whiskey Cake with chocolate-dipped, brandied figs, and countless others. My dad's birthday is coming up in November. This year, the plan is to make him a cake featuring dark chocolate (almost unsweetened completely) honeycomb (the candy--his favorite) and actual honeycomb, with a dark chocolate ganache, and some sort of liqueur. We'll see how it goes! :D It's a joy to make these as gifts, since they are all different, I never know how they'll go, and I never make them again. Now that my family all has endless phone snapshots of everything and everyone, we get photos and videos of them, but for the most part, they are fleeting--they take hours to make and think up, and then gone in seconds. I think though, that I put the most love into these of all the things I bake. That would be my favorite (food) gift.
megan wood says
I recently made a huge batch of vanilla bean scones and mason jars full of butternut squash soup for a postpartum friend. Community is so important, when you spend your time and energy growing a baby and then bringing it into the world it feels only right other people spend their time and energy nourishing you! My favorite edible gift to receive was the banana pie my mom made me for my birthday from your blog. Not only was it delicious, my mom does NOT like to be in the kitchen. So I know it was a true labour of love.
Laura | Tutti Dolci says
This pie is such a beauty, I adore the lattice top!
Karen Schulz-Harmon says
So sweet of you to mention the fig preserve - I hope my black figs met up to your expectations. ;)
The fig preserve was one of my favorite gifts to give this year, as the black mission figs came from our own tree and I created the recipe from scratch. The preserve was especially fun to package and send, as the jars were sent as surprise gifts to friends.
Here's the recipe for those of you interested:
http://www.harmonykitchen.co/2016/10/cardamom-fig-preserve.html
+Karen