Apple pie sweetened by fruit alone

“Apple Pie Perfect” is a new cookbook by Ken Haedrich (Harvard Common Press $15.95) that is chock full of fruit recipes, 100 to be exact.

Most are a little different from the norm, and viva la difference. One recipe is especially worthy of note because it is sugarless.

Haedrich writes that apple pie is one of the things you can bake successfully without sugar. One of the tricks to making such a pie is to find a sweet juicy apple. He suggests Honey Crisp as the first choice but also Fuji and Golden Delicious. To bring out the best in the apples, he recommends lots of lemon juice and zest, vanilla and spice.

Sugarless Apple Pie

1 double pie crust
8 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 lemon or orange
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dried pears
Big pinch of cinnamon
Big pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Milk or light cream

Prepare the pie crust. Roll the larger piece out on wax paper and tuck into a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. Let the excess dough hang over the side. Refrigerate.

While the shell chills, make the filling. Put the apples in a large mixing bowl. Blend the lemon juice and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Pour the liquid over the apples, tossing well to mix. Mix in the zest, raisins and spices. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the filling and mix thoroughly. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the other half of dough on wax paper to an 11-inch circle. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell. Using a pastry brush or wet fingertip, moisten the edge of the shell. Invert the top pastry over the filling. Center it, then peel off the paper. Press the top and bottom pastries together along the moistened edge, then trim the pastry, leaving a half-inch overhang. Sculpt the pastry into an upstanding ridge. Using a fork or paring knife, poke several steam vents in the top pastry; put a few of the vents near the edge so you can check the juices later.

Lightly brush the top of the pie with milk or cream.

Bake on center oven rack at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove and place on a large, dark baking sheet covered with foil. Reduce the oven to 375 degrees and put the pie on the sheet back into the oven and bake until any juices visible at the steam vents bubble thickly. It should be an additional 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool one hour before slicing.