My Modern-Day Apple Pie with Salted Caramel
I love to bake, like, really love. I bake something new at least two times a week. This week was my pie week. The last time I baked a pie was in college and it was a disaster, so I thought it was about time I tried it again. I was never a real fan of apple pie, but figured that I might like it better if I was in control, and oh boy, was I right. I decided I needed to make a salted caramel apple pie because quite frankly, it just sounds amazing . Plus, I wanted to try out my caramel making skills.
Not to toot my own horn, but this pie came out pretty gosh darned amazing. The filling wasn't overly gooey and the apples tasted fresh and bright. The crust, flaky, but still melts in your mouth. And the caramel. Oh, the caramel. Never before have I ever tasted something to sweet and salty and creamy. It is truly an experience to remember. I even made an extra batch of caramel to use tomorrow for my French toast. Mmm....
I recently modified my recipe a bit and I like it even better, if that is even possible. I realized that although I like the crust as it is, I need more dimension to it so that it compliments the wonderful flavors of the apple filling. I replaced some of the shortening with butter and added a couple of tablespoons of sugar and now... now I am in apple pie heaven. Enjoy!
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour, for crust
- 1 cups shortening, for crust
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar, for crust
- 5 tablespoons ice cold water, for crust
- 2 eggs beaten, for crust
- large apples of your choice peeled or unpeeled, for filling
- 1/2 lemon, for filling
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean, for filling
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch, for filling
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons raw sugar, for filling and caramel
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, for filling
- dash nutmeg, for filling
- 1 teaspoon ginger, for filling
- 1 plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, for filling and caramel
- 1 cup whole milk or whipping cream, for caramel
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, for caramel
- 1/2 cup water, for caramel
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, for crust
- 2 tablespoons sugar, for crust
- Use a pastry cutter to incorporate the shortening and 1/2 cup of butter in the flour until it looks like a course meal. Add the sugar. vinegar, 1 egg and 5T water to the flour and mix. Separate the dough in three balls and cover each in plastic wrap then leave in the freezer for half an hour.
- Cut the apples in thin slices. You don't have to peel the apples if you don't want as long as you slice them thin enough. About 1/4 of an inch is perfect. Use three large apples or 5 smaller apples.
- Mix the juice of half a lemon (fresh lemon works the best here), the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, 1/8 tsp salt, 2T sugar, cornstarch and vanilla together with the apples. Leave the mixture for at least 15 minutes.
- Roll out your dough and place it in your pan. Blind bake at 425 degrees for about 5 minutes. You can use any top you want while you are baking: a full top, lattice or other decoration. I used a flower cookie cutter because it was easier for me since I was using a springform pan and not a regular pie pan plus its pretty.
- Pour the 1/2 cup water in a pot and let it heat up. As the water is warming, take your sugar and process or blend it until it is a fine dust. Powdered sugar does not work here. I used raw sugar, but refined sugar is good too.
- Add the sugar to the water and allow it to boil. Once the water boils away and the sugar boils down to a dark brown color (or lighter brown for refined sugar), remove the pot from the heat and add your butter and cream. If you use whole milk, I recommend mixing, adding a teaspoon of cornstarch, then putting it back on the heat to reduce a few more minutes. Add 1 tsp of salt. Regular sea salt or kosher salt works, but try and go for the fluer de sel.
- Mix a few tablespoons of the caramel in the apple mixture. Pour the apple filling in the pie and add your top. Brush the top with some egg and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425 degree then for an additional 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Pour the remaining caramel on top of the pie. Cut and serve warm or allow it to cool.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1/8 | |
| Calories | 732 |
| Calories from Fat | 387 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 43 g | 66% |
| Carbohydrates 81 g | 27% |
| Fiber 3 g | 12% |
| Protein 6 g | 12% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
