Apples, cherries and red hots candies! Bam! Apple Cherry Bomb Pie! The color alone screams “You need this!” To get the true blue “bomb” zippiness we’re using tart apples & pie cherries with red hots & a tiny bit of cayenne for a little kick. That’s pretty much the recipe right there.
When the hubby first saw the top crust he shouted “Captain Crunch Pie!” Well, no, but it does have a Captain Crunch cereal-look with the baked on crushed red hots. He was a little disappointed but had no trouble devouring a slice. I kind of want to experiment with Captain Crunch now.
Instead of using the red hots whole, I put them in my blender for a few quick pulses, just enough to roughly crush them up.
Toss the apples, cherries, redhots & the rest of the ingredients. The redhots transforms the apples to a very pretty pink! And check out the flaky crust! Speaking of crusts, gluten free is a must for some of us. I use Bob’s Red Mill products with my gluten free flour mix.
Idea: If you want to have full on apple, but FLAVORED with berries (and red hots) try adding 1 tablespoon of berry powder!
For the fruit ratio I did 4 cups apples to 1 cup cherries. You could crazy on cherries or only apples; however you slice it, Apple Cherry Bomb pie will not disappoint.
Have a super fun time saving the last slice for yourself. Tip: If young children are at home, turn on the water to muffle the sound of opening the fridge to grab your slice. Tried and true.
Apple Cherry Bomb
Ingredients
Apple Cherry Bomb Filling
- 4 cups sliced tart apples (about 4 to 5)
- 1 cup sliced/halved tart cherries (about 25 to 30)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/3 cup Red Hots candies
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons Clearjel or tapioca starch
Grandma's Pie Crust (makes one 9-inch double crust)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter (or shortening)
- 1/2 cup scant, cold water
- 1 egg for egg wash on crust
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350 F.
Pie Crust
- With a large fork, cut in all dry ingredients until crumbly.
- Add water all at once and mix just until forms a ball (do not kneed or over mix).
- Divide dough in half (this will be rather soft). Roll out one half on heavily floured counter top about 1 to 1-1/2 inches wider than pie plate, roll up on to rolling pin and unroll into pie plate (dough is too soft to pick up by hand). Repeat for the top crust.
Filling
- Stir the sugar and Clearjel/Tapioca starch together in a large bowl.
- Peel, core, and slice apples & pit and halve the cherries, stirring them into the sugar/starch mixture to keep fruit from oxidizing.
- Place red hots in a blender and pulse 2 to 3 times just enough to roughly break them up.
- Stir the red hots, cayenne pepper and lemon juice into the apples and cherries.
- Place filling into prepared bottom crust, brush edges with egg wash, and place on top crust, crimp, seal, and cut vents.
- Brush the top crust with egg wash, crush a few extra red hots and sprinkle on top.
- Bake for 70 minutes.
- Best served warm.
