Apple-Bourbon Pie

This reader recipe, by Eugenia W. Bell of Lexington, Ky., was published in our November 1995 issue as part of a feature on classic holiday desserts. Apple pie might be a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert, but Bell's creative version is anything but ordinary.

The filling, which can be made with any type of cooking apples, also includes bourbon-infused raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, apricot preserves, and chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts. Unlike most apple pie recipes, Bell's recipe calls for the apple slices to be steamed in a steamer basket, which makes for a more soft and tender filling.

To save time, Bell makes the pie with refrigerated piecrusts, which she also uses to make decorative pastry leaves to decorate the top of the pie.

Bell writes: "I started making desserts when I was 10 years old. My first was a yellow cake from a baking powder recipe booklet. My uncle wants that cake each year for our reunion. Now, my recipe inspiration comes from travels to bed-and-breakfast and country inns."