In my grandmother’s recipes that I copied into my family cookbook, I found a wonderful old family recipe for pie using apples, pecans and a meringue topping.

She would stew her apples with a warm combination of cinnamon and brown sugar, and fold in chopped pecans so the filling was nicely dotted with pecan pieces. Then, with a hand-held egg beater (not the electric kind), she would painstakingly beat the egg whites and sugar until they were smooth and beautifully glossy. Her mile-high meringue was legendary within the family circle.

This family recipe for apple pecan pie was just one of her ways of interpreting the well-known “food is love” aphorism.

Undoubtedly, her recipe for apple pecan pie was a wonderful combination, although a bit time consuming.  Over the years, our family also developed a great love for cheesecake, which has been recorded in our family cookbook extensively in a section we appropriately named “Family Cheesecake Recipes.”

Below is a re-interpretation of my grandmother’s apple pecan pie recipe that includes cheesecake filling instead of meringue. This no-cook recipe, now called Easy Apple Pecan Cream Pie, also includes many convenience food shortcuts that enable the modern cook to create a delicious dessert in half the time my grandmother needed.

This recipe, which I have in my family cookbook, is a combination of all our favorites:

EASY APPLE PECAN CREAM PIE

1 graham cracker pie crust
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling (or your own homemade apple pie filling)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon or allspice
1 cup chopped pecans
Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake filling, original flavor, softened
Brown sugar & cinnamon, mixed together

Remove graham cracker pie crust from packaging. Doctor up the apple pie filling with additional brown sugar and cinnamon or allspice. (Note: Enhanced apple pie filling should have a darker color than it has directly from the can, so it will have intense enough flavor to compliment the cheesecake topping). Once the filling has sufficient spices, add pecans and mix thoroughly. Pour filling into graham cracker pie crust. Spread softened Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake filling over top of filling.  Sprinkle mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon on top for garnish. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Variation: Layer apple pie filling, pecans and cheesecake filling.

My grandmother would approve of my new Apple Pecan Cream Pie recipe since it saves time and is still in keeping with her food tradition of good food, love, and easy preparation, whenever possible. My Apple Pecan Cream Pie recipe follows her Apple Pecan Pie recipe in my family cookbook, as hers is the rightful inspiration for the new version. You may wish to do the same thing and include a little story about your recipe’s evolution when making your own family cookbook.

Happy cookbooking,

Matilda

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