Rum Raisin and Cider Pear Pie
Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a warm slice of this pie, with its classic flavour combination of rum and raisin, and get ready to have everyone asking you for the recipe.
Ingredients
- ½ cup dark rum or ½ cup apple cider, your choice
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- Pinch of salt
- ⅔ cup apple cider
- 3 lb pears (about 8 medium), peeled, sliced and chopped into ¾-inch pieces
- 1 tbsp butter (salted or unsalted, use what you have on hand)
- ¼ cup cream
Preparation
Roll out pastry for bottom crust and place in pie plate. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
In small saucepan, bring rum (or the cider, if that is what you’re using for the first ingredient) to a simmer. Add raisins, turn off heat, and allow them to soak in the hot liquid for twenty minutes.
In a two litre saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Once fully blended, add in the apple cider and stir well to combine. Add the pears as well as the raisins with the soaking liquid, and stir well. Cook until the mixture is clear and bubbling, and the pears are evenly coated. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter.
Let cool to room temperature if you're doing an elaborately decorated top. If you're doing a lattice or plain double-crust pie, you can go ahead and add the filling to the bottom crust now (you don't need to worry about chilling it before baking).
Brush the rim of the crust with cream and place the top crust on, sealing the edges together. Flute and decorate as desired. Since the fruit will continue to cook in the oven, you will need to cut vents in the top if you're doing a fully-covered pie.
Poke 4-6 small slits into the pastry with the tip of a knife.
Brush the top with cream (or you can make and use an egg wash). Bake at 350F degrees for one hour and ten minutes, or until golden brown.