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@lilypcrumbs The Flakiest crust of all time and an apple pie with a homemade salted caramel ice cream #applepie #thanksgivingrecipes #pie
♬ Now That We Don't Talk (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault) - Taylor Swift
Equipment
- 1 Deep Dish Pie Plate
- Apple/Vegetable Peeler
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour 280 grams
- 1 cup butter 225 grams, cubed
- 1 tsp salt 6 grams
- 1 tbsp sugar 24 grams
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream 60 grams
- 1/4 cup water 60 grams, cold
Filling
- 2.8 pounds apples 1.3 kg (whichever kind you prefer, I use honeycrisp)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice 20 grams
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 100 grams
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup caramel sauce 110 grams
- 1/4 g apple cooking juices see instructions
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour 40 grams
Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 3 tablespoons butter 45 grams
- 1/4 cup heavy cream 60 grams
- 1 tsp salt to taste
Finishing
- 1 Egg Egg wash
- Demerara sugar optional
Instructions
Make the Caramel
- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add the sugar. Heat until the sugar is totally melted, stirring occasionally with a nonstick spatula. Make sure to move it around the pan so it melts evenly.
- Once the sugar is melted, turn the heat up ever so slightly and watch carefully as the sugar becomes amber colored. When sugar is amber, whisk in the heavy cream and mix quickly. It will sputter but keep mixing! Then add in the butter and the salt mixing until sauce is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. You will only use a portion of this in the filling, the rest can be used as a topping and to enjoy at your leisure!
Make the Pie Crust
- In a small bowl, whisk water and creme fraiche (OR sour cream together). Place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the rest of the ingredients
- In a large bowl, with a whisk, mix the all purpose flour, salt, and sugar
- Slice butter into small cubes, about 1 tablespoon in size
- Add butter to large bowl with the dry ingredients. Toss the butter around the bowl to coat in the flour. Each piece should be coated!
- Squish the butter into flat pieces, in between your thumb and pointer finger-piece by piece. You want the pieces to be flat and the size of a quarter, some of these pieces may be larger when flattened, that is okay, as you work the dough they will break
- Toss the butter pieces again in the flour gently until each piece is flat and the size of a quarter
- Next, add HALF of the water and creme fraiche mixture (OR sour cream mixture depending on which you used) to the flour/butter mixture.
- Toss the ingredients around the bowl incorporating the liquid. Add in other half of the liquid and toss again to incorporate. Then squish the dough together with your hands. It will be VERY dry but try to compress it as best you can. Flip the bowl onto a clean work surface and continue to squish it together. Once you have a round shape formed, cut that dough ball in half and stack one half on top of the other. Repeat this process two more times. Adding flour if you need to prevent sticking, use a rolling pin to help bring the shape and form together, passing over the dough a few times as you fold it on to itself until it feels like it can hold a shape. Attempt to press the dough together and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Set dough in fridge for at least an hour and a half before use.
- When ready to use, remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half. One half will be the bottom crust and the other will be the top. On a heavily floured surface roll out dough to about 1/8 of an inch thick. Press into prepared deep dish pie pan.
Make the Filling
- Peel and core the apples. Chop them roughly into about 1-inch pieces. After peeling and chopping they should weigh around 35 oz/ approximately 2 1/4 pounds. In a large bowl, add the apple chunks, cinnamon and lemon juice. Toss together
- In a large saucepan, add apples, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix in pot. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until the apples are slightly soft. Do not cook them until they are falling apart! Just a bit soft. Remove from heat and strain the apples placing them in a separate bowl, reserve the juices. In that same saucepan, add 1/4 cup of those juices. Add in 1/ 3 cup of salted caramel and stir until combined
- When smooth, add in the flour and cook on low until smooth (you should not see any chunks of flour)
- Add in cooked apple chunks and mix until coated
Assemble the Pie
- Roll out cooled crust into a circle and press into pie pan, crimping the edges of the bottom layer.
- Pour apple filling into prepared pie pan with bottom crust. Place top crust over apples and seal the crusts together
- Chill the entire pie in the freezer for 15 minutes while the oven preheats. Preheat oven to 350F.
- Remove pie from the freezer and use a pastry brush to egg wash the top crust, you can also top with a sprinkle of demarara sugar or turbinado if you wish
- Bake pie for 1 and 15 minutes total, checking at the 45 minute mark for color. If crust appears too dark, place tin foil over the top of the pie as it continues cooking for the rest of the hour.
- When pie crust appears golden brown remove from the oven (again, all ovens are different so keep an eye on it starting at the 45 minute mark)
- Let pie cool for two hours
- Slice and enjoy! Drizzle with the extra salted caramel and a scoop of ice cream for a special added treat.