Being the fourth of July weekend, it was only right that we make a few pies. We did two, strawberry baked pie and this one, a twist on apple pie. Traditional apple pie has never been something I wanted to eat. I despise cinnamon, granny smith apples and the fact that most people insist on putting these huge chunks of apple in their pie. Ugh. So we endeavored to create something that is simple and easier to eat. This apple caramel pie is the answer. I was lucky to get this little piece to take the picture above, it was going fast!
For this recipe you need 8 apples (A mix including Fiji apples is good, avoid granny smith and red delicious), peeled and cut to the size you prefer.
A good foundation to any pie is a fabulous crust. Here is what you need.
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ice water
10 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup shortening or non salted butter
1/2 cup ice water
Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Take 1/2 cup of the flour mixture and put it in a smaller bowl and add 10 tablespoons of the ice water until smooth.
Cut the shortening (or butter) into the remaining flour mixture until it roughly looks like corn meal. Blend in the water/flour mixture.
Add more of the ice water until the dough is workable
Wrap and put in the refrigerator until it is time to use.
If you want you can begin to roll it out so that you have enough to cover the pie plate and also have enough left over to work on top.
The crust is not baked separately so once the crust is complete and formed into your pie plate, add your peeled and chopped apples. We like to chop ours down to smaller than bite size. We also use a mix of apples and we overfill it, letting it slightly come to a mound in the middle. As this cooks, it will cook down. Cover it with some more crust, we do a lattice formation but anything with holes will work. The next step is going to be making the caramel sauce.
Melt 1/2 cup unsalted butter in a pan, Stir in 3 Tablespoons of flour. Add the following:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Stir constantly, bring to a boil and immediately reduce the temp to a simmer for three to five minutes.
Once the pie is assembled and your lattice is placed on top, you are going to pour the caramel/sugar over the top letting it settle into the pie. Place this into a preheated 425 degree oven and let bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat down to 350 and bake another 35-45 minutes. The time will depend on how brown you want the top to be.
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