Aunt Mock Apple Pie with Buttery Crumb

Every gardener with a zucchini patch in late summer faces the eternal question: what to do with the basket of squash that won’t stop coming. This Aunt’s mock apple pie is the answer that reads as genius once you taste it. Four cups of peeled, sliced zucchini stand in for apples, and after a long bake with sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and tapioca thickener, the squash softens to apple texture and reads as apple flavor.

The lemon juice does the work of the trick. Five tablespoons may sound like a lot, but the acid is what mimics apple’s natural tartness and convinces the tongue.

The paper bag baking trick is the other clue this came from a heritage cookbook. Sealing the pie inside a folded paper bag traps moisture, cooks the filling evenly, and prevents the crumb topping from over-browning before the squash has fully softened. It looks weird in the oven and works.

A buttery crumb topping makes the pie read more dessert and less casserole. Sugar, butter, and flour rubbed together and baked into a golden crumble that pairs with vanilla ice cream.

Pro Tips

• Peel the zucchini thoroughly. The skin is what gives the game away; without it, the slices look exactly like apple.
• Use larger, more mature zucchini if possible. They have less water content than baby squash, and the texture is closer to apple after baking.
• Don’t skip the tapioca and cornstarch combination. Together they thicken the released zucchini liquid into a glossy filling that stays in the wedge instead of running.
• Use a heavy-duty grocery paper bag, not lunch-sack thin paper. Staple the open end shut, never tape, and check that no plastic windows or coatings are present.

Variations

• Stir 1 cup of fresh or canned pineapple into the filling for extra fruit-like flavor and brightness.
• Add ½ teaspoon of allspice or cardamom for a deeper warm-spice profile.
• Top with a streusel made with rolled oats and brown sugar instead of plain crumb topping for more texture.