Autumn Apple, Caramel Pie

Autumn Apple, Caramel Pie

When the air starts to get crisp I like to pull out this recipe.

Fresh apples are a necessity, and this pie is particularly enjoyable if you’re able to pick them yourself.

Ingredients

Crust:

1 ½ cups flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar

½ cup shorting

4 tbsp of ice cold water

Filling:

3-4 large green apples

1tsp of cinnamon

¼ cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

Caramel:

1¼ cups sugar

¼ cup + 2 tbsp water

3 tbsp butter

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

½ stick softened butter together

Directions

First thing to do is to make the crust.

Start by mixing 1 ½ cups flour, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp cinnamon and 2 tbs sugar in a large bowl. Once they’re blended together, cut in ½ cup shorting. Normally, a pastry cutter is recommended for this step, but they’re a little hard to get a hold of and I’ve found that a fork can do just as well. If using a fork, squish the shortening into the dry ingredients. This helps create the flaky crust texture. Next add 4 tbs of ice cold water, making sure to mix them in one at a time. By the end the dough should have rolled into a nice ball shape, if not add a little more water.

Then wrap it up in wax paper and place it in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.

Peel 3-4 large green apples and then core and quarter them. Cut each quarter into thin slices and place them in the bowl that used to hold the crust.

Toss 1tsp of cinnamon, ¼ cup flour and a tbs sugar in with the apple slices.

For the caramel, get out a nonstick sauce pot and add 1¼ cups sugar and ¼ cup water to it. Place it on the stove and turn the heat on to medium. Stir until the sugar is dissolved in the water. Then turn the heat up to high and let the mixture bubble, stirring occasionally. After about 8 min the bubbles will turn a nice amber color. This means the sugar is caramelizing. Take the pot off of the heat and add 2 tbs water and 3 tbs butter. Be careful, it will steam and hiss violently. Then place it back on low heat and stir until smooth. Quickly poor the caramel over the apple slices and let them sit for 10 min, allowing the juices to seep out.

Finally it’s time to make the topping. Mix 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp salt, and ½ stick softened butter together.

Pre-heat the oven to 3750

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out on top of the wax paper. Flip it onto a pie tin and use a fork to poke holes in the bottom of the crust (to prevent bubbling). Poor the apple-caramel mixture on top of the pie crust. Next spread the topping over the apples. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the crust and place the pie in the oven. (if it looks like the edges of the crust are starting to burn, take the pie out and cover the edges with aluminum foil. Then place it back in the oven to continue baking.)

Bake it for about an hour and then serve and enjoy!

P.S. It’s really good warm with vanilla ice cream :)