Easy Ruby Apple Pie (with a Secret Ingredient)
Ruby Apple Pie consists of a gorgeous hibiscus colored apple pie filling assembled with your favorite store-bought double pie crust. An easy to prepare yet stunning Fall/Holiday dessert!
Servings 8
Calories509 kcal
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 2 ⅓ cups granulated sugar (plus more to sprinkle)
- 2 cups dried hibiscus flower (or 6 tablespoon Jamaica Agua Fresca powder)
- 1 lemon, halved
- 5 cups Pink Lady apples (or any other baking apples), cored, peeled and sliced (about 5 large apples)
- 2 store-bough pie crusts, at room temperature (I used Pillsbury)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice (mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice) if desired, use ground cinnamon instead
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled and cut into mini chunks
- 1 small egg white, beaten
- ¼ cup apple jelly (optional)
Instructions
- COLOR APPLES: Whisk water with 1 cup sugar in a large pot over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved (about 1-2 minutes). Then, add hibiscus flower and let mixture come to a boil. When liquid turns deep red, remove the spent hibiscus flowers using a slotted spoon or spider strainer and stir in juice of ½ a lemon.
- Place the peeled apple slices into the pot and let cool to room temperature. Transfer everything to a large pitcher or clean airtight container, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The longer the apples steep, the redder the color!
- Alternatively, you can use jamaica agua fresca powder to color the apples instead of the hibiscus flower. For this, whisk water with jamaica agua fresca powder (skip sugar and lemon) in a large pot over medium-high heat (about 1 minute) and let mixture come to a boil. Remove pot from heat and add apple slices, letting sit until liquid cools to room temperature.
- Then, transfer everything to a large pitcher or clean airtight container, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Again, the longer it steeps, the redder the color!
- Right before making our ruby apple pie, pour all the content of the pitcher into a colander and let apples drain free of the liquid for about 5-10 minutes.
- MEANWHILE, preheat oven at 400 F and unroll room temperature pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Transfer one crust to an ungreased 9-inch pie plate carefully. Trim bottom crust along rim of the pie plate and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine 1 ⅓ cup sugar, all the flour, and spices until mixture becomes homogeneous. Add apple slices, pour juice of ½ lemon over them, and gently mix apple slices with the other ingredients.
- Spoon apple filing into crust-lined pie plate. Dot top with a few pieces of butter. If desired, you can use leaf cookie cutters of different sizes to embellish top crust, or simply use the pie crust as it is to cover and enclose the filling.
- Trim excess top crust and press edges of the top and bottom crusts together to seal. Flute edges using your fingers. If using pie crust as is, make sure to cut several slits in top crust in order to vent steam.
- Brush top crust with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 F (low rack of oven) for about 40-50 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.
- Make sure to cover edges of crust with strips of foil after 15 minutes in the oven to prevent excessive browning. Transfer baked pie to a rack and let cool before serving. Enjoy!
- TIP: To prevent apples from looking dry, microwave apple jelly for about 30 seconds and brush the apples slices that are visible through the top crust (only if you cut out patterns in the top crust as I did).
Recipe Notes
- Both dried hibiscus flower and jamaica agua fresca are available at the Latin Aisle of Walmart and other supermarkets in the U.S. They both give a ruby color to the apples and a mild berry flavor.
- Ruby Apple Pie can be served at room temperature, chilled, or slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Leftovers should be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
- Love apple treats? Try our Fried Apple Cobbler Bars.
Nutrition
Calories: 509kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 193mg | Potassium: 154mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 70g | Vitamin A: 240IU | Vitamin C: 21.6mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 6.6mg
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