Apple Crumb Pie — The Recipe That Felt Like Finishing Something

October. The cookbook advance copies arrived. A BOX. From Athens, Georgia. Twelve copies of "From Brenda's Kitchen: Soul Food for the Long Haul" by Tamika Washington. I opened the box at the kitchen table. I held the first copy. It was heavier than I expected — not physically, but in the way that completed things are heavy: with all the work that went into them, with all the years, with all the tears at 5 AM and the nutmeg in the margin and the four failed introductions and the one that worked. I held the book and I held Mama and I held the Folgers can in my other hand and the two objects — the book and the can — sat together in my hands like a before and an after, like a beginning and a continuation, like a woman who died and a woman who kept cooking.

I gave one to Curtis. He held it in his right hand (the working one) and he looked at the cover — the cast iron, the can, the Derek photograph — and he said nothing for two minutes. Curtis Jackson held his wife's cookbook in his one working hand for two minutes without speaking. Then he said, "She would have written a different introduction." I said, "What would she have said?" He said, "She would have said: 'Cook it right or don't cook it.'" I laughed. I laughed until the laughter turned into tears and the tears turned into laughter again and the kitchen held all of it — the book and the man and the can and the laughter and the tears and the love, always the love — and the book is real and the book is Mama's and the book is mine and the book is everyone's. Pull up a chair. Set the table. Let's eat.

The day the books arrived, I couldn’t just sit still — Curtis was quiet and I was laughing and crying at the same time, and the only thing that made sense was to go back to the stove, back to the beginning, back to Mama. This Apple Crumb Pie is the kind of thing she would have pulled from the oven without ceremony, set on the counter still bubbling, and said nothing more about it than “it’s done.” October apples, brown sugar, a streusel top that catches and holds — it’s a recipe for a day when you need your hands busy and your heart full, and I needed both.

Apple Crumb Pie

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 6 cups peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples (about 5–6 medium; Granny Smith or Honeycrisp)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Crumb Topping:
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Place the unbaked pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish, crimp the edges, and set aside on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Make the apple filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice until every slice is evenly coated. Let sit for 5 minutes so the juices begin to release.
3. Make the crumb topping. In a separate bowl, whisk together the 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter pieces and use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour mixture until it forms coarse, pea-sized crumbs. Do not overwork — you want texture, not a paste.
4. Assemble the pie. Pour the apple filling into the prepared crust, mounding it slightly in the center. Scatter the crumb topping evenly over the top, covering the apples completely.
5. Bake. Place the pie (on the baking sheet) in the preheated oven and bake for 50–55 minutes, until the topping is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling at the edges. If the edges of the crust brown too quickly, tent them loosely with foil after 30 minutes.
6. Cool before slicing. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. The filling needs time to set. Serve warm or at room temperature, plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 380 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 210mg