I have a confession to make.
I work in a pie shop – baking pies – but pie isn’t really my thing.
To be fair, desserts in general aren’t my thing. I’m more of a cookie/macaron girl than cakes and pies. Which probably explains why most of the recipes on here are either cookies or macarons.
My sister is actually the pie maker of the family. Every Thanksgiving and the occasional Christmas she makes a killer apple pie so I’ve never really felt the need to experiment with pie making.
A couple of weeks ago though, I went to Hood River for their annual “Fruit Loop” with a couple of friends and got a little crazy buying apples, pumpkins and doing an 11am cider tasting. If you’re ever in Oregon, go to Hood River. It’s so beautiful and on a clear day, you can see both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. Autumn colours, a clear day, and killer views with best friends. It doesn’t get better than that.
But back to the pie.
This pie is good. And I say that as an ambivalent pie-eater. Thinly sliced apples grown in beautiful Hood River, comforting spices, salted caramel and Four & Twenty Blackbirds perfectly flaky pie crust. You really couldn’t ask for more in a pie.
I lit an apple candle while I was making this and that combined with the smell of the pie as it was baking made my house smell like Autumn. It was perfect.
The top of this pie is a lattice. I have five lattice strips going each direction (horizontally and vertically, 10 strips total). I cut one strip for each direction into three pieces and braided it for a little extra somethin’, but if you want to just do a regular lattice with no braiding, the pie will still look gorgeous.
Put on your favourite apron and get to work. I promise you won’t be disappointed 🙂
Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 cup cold water
- 4 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup ice
- Filling:
- 1/2 cup salted butter caramel
- 5-6 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- Egg Wash:
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Raw sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
- Step 1 Crust:
- Step 2 Stir the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.
- Step 3 Add the butter pieces and coat with flour mixture using a bench scraper or spatula.
- Step 4 With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture, working quickly until mostly pea-size pieces of butter remain (a few larger pieces are okay
- Step 5 be careful not to overblend).
- Step 6 Combine the water, cider vinegar, and ice in a large measuring cup or small bowl.
- Step 7 Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the ice water mixture over the flour mixture, and mix and cut it in with a bench scraper or spatula until it is fully incorporated.
- Step 8 Add more of the ice water mixture, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, using the bench scraper or your hands (or both) to mix until the dough comes together in a ball, with some dry bits remaining.
- Step 9 Squeeze and pinch with your fingertips to bring all the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with more small drops of the ice water mixture, if necessary, to combine.
- Step 10 Shape the dough into two flat discs, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight, to give the crust time to mellow.
- Step 11 Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator and place on lightly floured surface
- Step 12 roll out into a 12″ circle.
- Step 13 Transfer dough to a pie plate, and press into the bottom and sides of pan. Leave overhanging dough in place and put in fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Step 14 Remove second disc of dough, roll out and cut lattice strips (I cut 10 lattice strips and sliced two into 3 strips for braiding). Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
- Step 15 Filling:
- Step 16 In a large bowl, toss apple slices with lemon juice. Transfer to a colander and leave to drain for 10 minutes.
- Step 17 In another bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.
- Step 18 Return apple slices to bowl and toss with the sugar mix.
- Step 19 Assembly:
- Step 20 Remove pie plate from fridge.
- Step 21 Using a slotted spoon, put half of the apple mix at the bottom of the pan, making sure the bottom of the crust is covered. Drizzle over 1/4 cup salted butter caramel and cover with remaining apples. Drizzle the last 1/4 cup caramel over the apples.
- Step 22 Weave the lattice on top of the pie, then tightly roll up the overhang into the top of the pie plate and crimp the dough. Place dough in fridge for 30 minutes to rest the dough.
- Step 23 Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Step 24 When you’re ready to bake, brush lattice and pie edges with egg then sprinkle the raw sugar on top.
- Step 25 Place pie on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minute. Check to see how fast the edges are browning
- Step 26 if browning faster than rest of pie, cover with foil. Bake for another 30-40 minutes until crust is brown and bottom of the crust is fully baked.
- Step 27 Cool and enjoy slices with ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.
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