And Now For Something Completely Different:Cinnamon Apricot Pie with Vanilla Pouring Cream

I am still going through the Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, with my ultimate goal of making every pie in the Elsen sisters' book. What I have found, not surprisingly, is that I have favorites that I want to make over and over again (The Salted Caramel Apple and Bourbon Pear Crumble come to mind). Since I can't spend every waking minute making pies, I have found it more difficult to keep trying new pies. But this week, I did make a new one that I had been wanting to make since last summer: "Cinnamon Apricot Pie with Vanilla Pouring Cream".

This pie fascinated me, because it is uncommon to find fruit pie recipes that use apricots. I love apricot jam, and I had the pleasant taste of that in my mind when I found this recipe. So I began to look for fresh apricots last summer. To my dismay, I could not find them after looking at the produce sections of the major local groceries. I thought that I simply waited too late in the season last year, so decided that I would begin early this summer. I was finally able to get fresh apricots at Green Life Grocery and Earth Fare, and a friend said that she had seen some at a local farmer's market. But apparently, the availability of fresh apricots is limited because, according to my research, the growing season is relatively short. Furthermore, California is the only major producer of apricots in the country, and they are rather hard to export. Luckily,I was able to find two different varieties of this interestingl fruit to use in the pie.

The crust is the usual luscious butter crust. The apricot filling consists of the fresh apricots, lemon juice, granulated and brown sugars, ground cinnamon, potato starch, and Old Fashion bitters. This is the first time that I had used potato starch for a pie, with the usual thickeners being either ground arrowroot or cornstarch. (Potato starch, by the way, can be found at grocery stores that carry organic and natural ingredients). After the fruit pie is cooked and cooling, the cream topping is prepared. The "pouring cream" is made of milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar,and 2 tablespoons of dark rum. It is important to note that the pouring cream should be warm when the pie is ready to be served.

The pie was a great combination of sweetness and tanginess, with the cinnamon being a great companion for the fresh apricots. I will say that the sugars and cinnamon really improve the flavor of the fresh apricots. Apricots alone, without the cooking, sweetener, and spices are not my favorite fruits. (unlike peaches, which are sweet without sugar). The pouring cream sauce was the perfect topping for this pie. It would have been even better had I made it a little thicker, but it was still delicious. This pie is a true treat, and will be one of those "special " pies that I will serve to guests.

I made this pie for my husband, who also thought it was a flavorful pie. I thought that, since it was a

pie that I made just for him, I should not eat half of the pie. Thus, unfortunately, I have not been practicing my usual habit of eating a piece of a new pie every morning for breakfast. Oh, well - there will be other pies in my future!