After last week’s hurricanes Danny and Erika, for several days we didn’t get any fresh food deliveries to the island. Especially during hurricane Danny, no one was able to come in and out of the island for almost 3 days.
As a result, our supermarkets ran out of fresh food. All we could find were apples, onions, and potatoes. Though I was planning to make a couple of recipes using pumpkins, I had to change plans and make an apple pie instead. After all, if life gives you lemons, you have to make lemonade.
About the Caramel Apple Pie Recipe
I have been baking apple pies for a couple of years now, and like most people do, I have a recipe that I use over and over again. But this year, I decided to stir things up a little bit and add a sweet little twist to it. When I found this recipe on Tara O’Brady’s cookbook Seven Spoons
, I knew this was the twist that I was looking for.
In my opinion, the genius part of this recipe is the caramel part. You simply marinate the apples with lemon juice and sugar (a combination of brown and granulated sugars) and let them sit on the counter.
After an hour or so, apples release their juices and you end up with a liquid that is sweet, sour, and tart, all at the same time.
Then you heat some butter in a pan, add the juices, and reduce it to a half a cup. After you mix it with apples and bake in a flaky and buttery pie crust, it is simply out-of-this world.
In terms of apples, I used a combination of Macintosh and Granny Smith as I love the sweet and tart flavors that they offer, especially when paired up with the caramel. In terms of the pie crust, I used my favorite pie crust recipe that I like to use all the time. But if you have one that you prefer, feel free to use your own recipe.
Oh and do yourself a favor; top it off with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream and sprinkle it with some chopped walnuts. Just like we did.
Other Apple Recipes You Might Like
Warm Farro Breakfast Bowl with Cinnamon-Apples
Baked Oatmeal with Date Butter, Apples and Walnuts VEGAN
French Apple Cake
Easy Cranberry and Apple Cake
Caramel Apple Pie
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces) all-purpose flour (plus more for the surface)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons, 9 ounces unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
- 1/2 cup ice-cold water
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Pie filling :
- 3 lbs apples, cut into small cubes
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) light brown sugar, plus more for sprinkling at the end
- 1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- Vanilla Ice Cream, optional
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
Instructions
To make the dough:
- Place flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the butter. Using a fork or a pastry cutter cut the butter into the flour until the butter is in pea-size pieces. Pour the water and mix just until it comes together. If you feel like it is too dry add more water, 1-teaspoon at a time. You will know that you have added enough water when you pick up a handful of the dough and you can squeeze it together between your fingers without it falling apart. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal pieces. Shape each piece into a 4-inch disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
To make the filling:
- Place the apples in a large bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples. Stir in the sugars and salt. Give it a big stir. Let it sit on the kitchen counter for an hour. Stir it a couple of times during the hour. You can make this a day ahead and keep it covered with stretch film in the fridge. Set a colander over a large pot. Drain the apples. Pour the juices in a measuring cup. Depending on the juiciness of your apples, it should barely be a cup. Take note of the amount.
- Flip the apples back to the bowl; sprinkle them with cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- To make the caramel: Place the butter into a small pot over medium-high heat. Let it brown, swirling occasionally. Add the drained apple juice. Bring it to a boil, turn the heat down to medium, and let it simmer 15-17 minutes or until it is reduced to a 1/2 cup. Keep a close eye on it as it may burn instantly. When it is reduced to a half a cup, pour it over the apples and give it a stir. Set it aside.
To assemble the pie:
- Adjust your oven rack to lower middle position and preheat the oven to 375 F Degrees.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the dough into an 11-inch round. Loosely roll the dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto a 9-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over the edges. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into the bottom of the plate with the other hand. Leave any dough that over hangs on the sides. Place it in the fridge while working on the second dough.
- To make the lattice top: Roll out the second dough into a 10-inch round. Using a pastry cutter (I used one with a scalloped edge) and a ruler cut it into 8 equal vertical pieces. If the dough gets difficult to work put it back in the fridge for 5-10 minutes and then continue working on it.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Retrieve the pastry shell from the fridge. Fill it with the apple and caramel mixture, mounding the fruit towards the center. Weave the lattice directly on top of the filling. Press the top and bottom crusts on the edges to seal. Tuck the excess underneath to form a neat and even edge. Place it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Generously brush the top and sides of the pie dough with an egg whisked with a tablespoon of water. Sprinkle the dough with a teaspoon of brown sugar.
- Set the pie on the prepared baking sheet and bake until the juices of the apples are bubbling, 50-55 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and cool on a wire rack for two hours.
- If preferred, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some chopped walnuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe is adapted from Tara O’Brady’s cookbook Seven Spoons.
Amazing! I made this and it turned out really well.