My favorite apple pie recipe comes from a friend who shares my name, and who was kind enough to share with me a recipe for an apple pie that's practically a work of art. More than a thousand words long, it features little anecdotes here and there, making the recipe valuable for the writing alone, never mind the pie that comes off its pages. We wanted to re-create the flavor of apple pie in ice cream, but pie crust didn't quite work out when tucked into custard—it got too soggy for it to be any good. Instead, we decided to keep the filling and use bits of cooked crumble topping as cookielike bites mixed in with bits of apple. Calvados is a nice way to bump up the apple flavor, but if you don't have that on hand, rum or brandy should do in pinch.
Of course, you can use whatever apples you prefer, but we recommend the Granny Smith variety here. They are excellent at holding their shape during cooking, and will stay intact, which is perfect for ice cream. A varietal like McIntosh is too soft and might fall apart, leaving you with applesauce.
The crumble pieces will soften as the ice cream sits in the freezer—this is supposed to happen.
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