Honestly, I’m not big on pies, something to do with the crust on top but mmm…. doesn’t this Caramel Apple Pie sound like fall? Cozy sweater weather, under a warm blanket eating some warm apple pie with a little bit of ice cream. Goodness, I love this time of year!
That being said none of the above was the scenario for this pie, we had a get together with the in laws coming up and I thought this would be a good chance to give this pie a try. The weather was hot and not at all fall like but at 11:00pm sitting around the fire this was a good treat, I was wishing we brought ice cream though!
This was another gem I found in a Style at Home magazine, the September 2018 issue. I was hesitant to try and almost went for a premade crust but it was a great excuse to buy a rolling pin and turned out to be pretty easy! My confidence in making pies is pretty up there now, because making one pie without it turning into a disaster makes me a pro right?!
TIPS:
- The recipe calls for 1/4 cup sour cream however; this was the only thing I forgot when I went to the store to get ingredients. So after a bit of research I found that I could use heavy cream and lemon juice as a substitute. So for the 1/4 cup this calls for I used 1/4 cup of heavy cream and just over half a tsp of lemon juice. I made that first and put it to the side until I needed it. If your dough seems a little wet or sticky I would add some flour.
- Make sure the water for your crust is really cold otherwise your crust won’t work
- You can also use granny smith apples instead of royal gala if you want less of a sweet taste.
- I didn’t have an course sugar to sprinkle on top of the latticed crust, so I just used granulated sugar.
What you need:
Crust
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup cold butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup shortening, cubed
- 1/4 sour cream
- 1/4 cup ice water
- 1 tsp vanilla
Filling
- 5 Royal Gala apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
- 3 tbsp. flour
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 tbsp. course sugar
What you do:
Crust
- In a large bowl, mix together powdered sugar and flour then add in the butter and shortening cubes
- Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut the butter and shortening in until you get what resembles a crumble
- Using a whisk, in a separate bowl. Combine your sour cream (or the concoction you made that resembles sour cream), water and vanilla. Drizzle over the flour mixture
- Forming a ball, use your hands to bring he dough together. You can add more ice water to the dough if it seems too dry. 1 tbsp. at a time.
- Separate dough in half, shape each half into a disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes
While your dough is in the fridge, make your pie filling
- In a large bowl, add in apple slices, flour and cinnamon and toss until the apples
are coated evenly - In a skillet, over medium heat, melt your butter then add in brown sugar, water and salt.
- Turn the heat up to high and cook the mixture until it starts bubbling then mix apples in.
- Remove skillet from the heat and put aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Take a dough disc out of the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Making a 12 inch circle.
- Place this into a 9inch pie dish. Trim the edges to leave about 1 inch in overhang
- Pour your filling into the pie dish now
- Take the other dough disc out of the fridge and roll it into a 10 inch circle then cut 10, 1 inch wide strips out
- Place 5 strips across the top of the pie, spaced out evenly. Then take the remaining strips and lay them across the top in the opposite direction. (Forming a lattice)
- Take the overhang and fold it over top the edges of the lattice, pinch to join them and then crimp the edges of your pie.
- Brush the pastry with whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar
- Bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the temp to 350° and bake for another 45-50 minutes. The top should be golden brown and the apples should be soft.
- Let pie cool before serving.
I made my pie the night before. You can leave it out loosely covered for 24 hours or in the fried for 3 days. To warm up, set oven to 350° to 15-20 minutes should do the trick. But check to make sure pie is warmed up to your liking. Leave in longer if your pie was kept in the fridge.
I unfortunately didn’t take any pictures of the slices, after a couple drinks, the distraction of family time and the smell of pie the last thing on my mind was taking a picture… fired.
