What better way to celebrate April Fools’ Day than by fooling your family with an April Fools’ Day Apple Pie? Though no one really knows the exact date April Fools’ Day became a holiday, in our family, I know celebrating it goes back several generations. My grandma was the ultimate jokester. She could deliver a prank with a straight face and look you right in the eye while doing it. I’m not a good liar, and keeping a straight face is very difficult. So my favorite April Fools’ jokes center around one of my biggest loves: FOOD!
Last year, I created “cupcakes” for my family for April Fools’ Day. These were pretty impressive and believable, if I do say so myself. If you’d like to check out that blog post, please click here. It was a very fun recipe!
This year I decided I needed to create a recipe just as believable, and as I love dessert, this is where I started. Our son has often declared his love of pie, and I figured I could hide a lot of tricks between two layers of pastry dough. However, the recipe had to be tasty, too. I don’t like waste, and I simply don’t have time to create a recipe only to have it thrown away. Plus, the ingredients needed to be outside-the-box (nothing fake or processed). My plan: an “Apple Pie.”
April Fools’ Day “Apple Pie” Recipe…
I made my favorite easy pie dough recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. After placing the bottom dough in a deep dish pan, I layered spiced apples and mashed cheesy potatoes with kielbasa sausage to form the “pie.” I placed another layer of apples on top in the hope that if the pie bubbled while baking the apples would be the only ingredient seen on the outside. Then, I baked as usual. Here are a few pictures to explain my layers. 🙂
The recipe turned out better than expected. From the outside, it really looked like an apple pie, and it smelled wonderful! If I didn’t know better I’d have thought we were having a fresh-baked apple pie for dessert. Plus, the recipe really tasted great! I love the combination of apples, potatoes, and kielbasa…a little sweet, a little smoky, a little salty. Speaking of which, if you like potatoes and kielbasa, check out my post on Cheesy Potatoes and Kielbasa Bake.
April Fools’ Day “Apple Pie”
Notes
Homemade pie crust is far superior in flavor to store purchased dough and goes together quickly. However, in a pinch, purchased dough will work for this recipe.
Ingredients
- unbaked double crust pie crust (homemade is best)
- 2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 c. milk
- 2 c. shredded co-jack or other cheese blend
- 6 oz. Kielbasa, chopped into small pieces
- 3 c. peeled, sliced apples
- 2 T. sugar
- 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Placed peeled and sliced potatoes in a large pan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook until potatoes test done, 15-20 minutes.
- Drain potato water and mash potatoes using an electric hand mixer. Add milk, mixing again well until light and fluffy. Add cheese and kielbasa, again mixing until well combined.
- Peel and thinly slice apples. Mix slices with sugar and cinnamon until slices are well coated.
- Place one pie crust in bottom of a deep dish pie plate. Add 1/3 of apple slices in an even layer.
- Spread potato mixture on top of apples. (Depending on the size of your pie plate, you may not have room for all the potatoes. Instead, grease a small baking dish and bake at the same time as the pie.)
- Layer remaining apple slices on top of potato mixture, being careful to cover completely.
- Add top crust to pie, being sure to moisten top of lower pie crust to seal together. Crimp as desired.
- Bake for 25 minutes covered with a piece of foil. Remove foil and continue to bake for 30-35 minutes, or until pie is evenly browned.
- Let pie rest for 10-15 minutes prior to slicing and serving. This will allow the filling to set up.
I think Grandma would find this apple pie to her liking, and I might even fool her! You know, I can’t accept a stick of gum from anyone without thinking about Grandma and her April Fools’ Day pranks! 🙂 (The amount of time it must have taken her to empty gum wrappers and fill them with perfectly cut cardboard!!!) I hope that your family has fun memories of April Fools’ Days past! I’d love to hear some new ideas…maybe I can use them on my family next year!