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Dried Fruit Pie with Crème Anglaise

For the best taste in this rich, chewy pie, look for plump, soft, dried fruits. Try a slice with Crème Anglaise (right). Makes one 9-inch pie

2 cups pitted prunes (about 12 ounces)

1¼ cups dried apricots (about 6 ounces)

1 cup dried cranberries (about 5 ounces)

1 cup dried apples (about 2 ounces)

A double recipe Short Crust, Butter Crust, or Almond Crust

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup sliced almonds

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

Crème Anglaise (recipe follows)

Place the prunes, apricots, cranberries, and apples in a large saucepan. Cover them with cool water to a depth of 2 inches and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer slowly for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander set in the sink and cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, position the rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll out half the crust dough and line a 9-inch pie plate with it. Set aside, covered loosely with a clean, dry kitchen towel.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked dried fruit to a large cutting board. Coarsely chop the pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the egg, egg yolk, brown sugar, almonds, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until uniform.

Remove the towel from the crust; pour and scrape the filling evenly into the prepared crust. Roll out the remaining pastry dough to form a top crust, as directed on section Pies, Tarts, and Fruit Desserts.

Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F and continue baking until lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Once cooled, serve with Crème Anglaise (see below).

To cool: Set on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing.

To store: Once cooled, the pie can be tightly covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Variations: Add 2 tablespoons dark or golden rum with the egg.

Substitute 1 teaspoon ground ginger or ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg for the cinnamon.

Crème Anglaise

This traditional French sauce (pronounced “crehm ahn-GLAYZ”) is like melted ice cream—only richer. Makes about 2 cups

13/4 cups whole or low-fat milk (do not use fat-free)

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise but still attached at the stem

4 egg yolks, at room temperature

½ cup sugar

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until tiny bubbles fizz around the pan’s inner rim.

Drop the vanilla bean into the pan, cover, and set aside off the heat for 10 minutes.

Fish the bean out of the hot milk. Run a small knife along the inside of the bean, scraping out the tiny black seeds. Return these to the milk and stir well.

Set the milk over low heat and heat until wisps of steam rise from the surface. Do not let the milk bubble, boil, or simmer; adjust the heat so it stays this temperature.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add the sugar and continue beating, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula until thick ribbons form off the beaters when they are turned off and lifted out of the bowl, ribbons that do not immediately dissolve back into the mixture but lie on top of it for a moment, about 5 minutes.

Beat about half the warmed milk into the egg mixture in a slow stream, then beat this combined mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining warmed milk. Stir over very low heat until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cool at room temperature for 15 minutes or cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Variations: Omit the vanilla bean (and steps 1 and 2); simply heat the milk to the proper temperature as in step 4. Once the combined egg-milk mixture has been beaten into the pan, beat in 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

Flavor Crème Anglaise with any liqueur by omitting