Apple Pie with Cream Cheese Crust

Lemon and ginger give a light, fresh flavor to our beautiful apple pie.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup cold butter, cut into ½” pieces
• 2 oz. cold cream cheese, cut into ½” pieces
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• Ice water

Filling:

• 1 cup + ½ tsp. sugar
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
• ½ tsp. grated lemon zest
• 3 lbs. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into ¼”-thick slices, about 11 cups
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 2 egg whites
• Pink concentrated food coloring

Instructions

To make crust:

• In large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. With pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter and cream cheese until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add lemon juice and 1 Tbs. water; with fork, stir until dough forms, adding more water, 1 tsp. at a time, if necessary. Shape dough into two disks; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. 
• Place rimmed baking sheet on rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 9″ pie pan with cooking spray. On lightly floured surface, roll one dough disk into 13″ round; fit into pie pan. Trim and flute edge; refrigerate. 
• Line baking sheet with wax paper. On lightly floured surface, roll remaining dough into 13″ round. Using 2 ¼” and 1 ¼” flower-shaped cookie cutters and 3″ and 2″ teardrop-shaped leaf cutters or knife, cut out shapes. Using 3/8″ round cutter (such as Wilton round pastry tip #2A), cut out rounds from remaining dough; flatten round cutouts slightly. With small knife, score lines into leaves for veins. Transfer shapes to wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate. 

To make filling:

• Combine 1 cup sugar, flour, ginger and zest. Stir in apples and lemon juice. 
• Tint 1 egg white pink with food coloring. Brush some of mixture over cutouts; layer large and small flowers, then top with rounds. Brush leaves and fluted edge of crust with untinted egg white. 
• Transfer apple mixture to pie shell; lightly press down. Arrange leaves and flowers over filling; lightly press onto each other and crust edge to seal. Sprinkle with remaining ½ tsp. sugar. Bake on hot baking sheet 1 hour or until golden and bubbly, covering with foil if browning too quickly. Cool on rack.