Berkshire Apple Pie

This apple pie flips the script on traditional pastry. Instead of rolling out a crust, you fill a pie plate with cinnamon-dusted apple slices and dump a simple cake batter right on top. As it bakes, the batter spreads itself over the fruit and forms a golden, cakey crust with slightly crisp edges.

The Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts are serious apple country, and this no-fuss approach fits right in with that New England farmhouse cooking tradition. It’s the kind of recipe someone’s grandmother scribbled on a card and never measured twice.

Sweeten your apples before they go in the pan. Taste a slice first because apple sweetness varies wildly by variety. Granny Smiths need more sugar, Honeycrisps barely need any. The batter itself is already sweet, so go lighter on the apples than you think.

Pro Tips

• Pack the apples in tightly. They shrink as they bake, and a loosely filled plate leaves a gap between fruit and topping.
• Use a glass pie plate and drop the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Glass holds heat differently, and the lower temp prevents the bottom from burning before the top sets.
• Don’t spread the batter. Seriously. Just dump it in the center and let the oven do the work. Fussing with it makes it uneven.
• Fresh apples beat canned every time here, but if using canned, drain them well and add extra sugar since they tend to be tart.

Variations

• Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter for crunch.
• Mix in ½ teaspoon nutmeg and a pinch of allspice with the cinnamon for a deeper, warmer spice blend.
• Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce while still warm.