Salted Caramel Apple Pie + Perfect Pie Crustfeatured

Ingredients

FOR THE PIE CRUST:
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup chilled (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
FOR THE PIE:
• Salted Caramel
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 6 medium to large apples (I did a mixture of 1 Granny Smith, 1 Gala, 2 Honeycrisp, 2 McIntosh)
• 1/3 cup raw sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon cream
• 1 large pinch raw sugar for garnish
• 1 small pinch sea salt (Maldon or fleur de sel is nice) for garnish

Instructions

FOR THE PIE CRUST:
1. Make sure all your ingredients are thoroughly chilled before you begin. I freeze my cubes of butter the night before if I know I plan on making pie crust the next day. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl, and stir to combine.
2. In a food processor, pulse together the cold butter and flour mixture until it is the texture of cornmeal. A few pea-size pieces of butter is ok. (If using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the cold butter into the flour mixture by pressing down quickly, using as few strokes as possible.)
3. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and pulse again until the dough forms a ball. (If doing by hand, gather the dough and gently press into a ball.) It should come together loosely; if not, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough in half; place each on plastic wrap. Flatten into disks. Wrap tightly; refrigerate 1 hour or overnight. ***Make-Ahead Note: The pie dough can be made ahead of time, wrapped plastic wrap, and kept in the fridge for up to five days. Or it can be made way in advance, frozen, and then placed in the fridge to defrost five days before using.
4. Remove one disk from refrigerator. Between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, press rolling pin gently all over dough to flatten it slightly. Working from the center to the edge in all directions, roll out dough into a round about 3 inches larger than the pie plate.
5. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin; lift and center it over the pie plate. Gently unroll the dough over the plate, leaving an even amount of overhang around the perimeter. Flute the edge of the crust using the pointer finger of one hand and the thumb and pointer of the other hand.
6. Roll out the second disk between two sheets of parchment and cut into 1-inch strips for the lattice top.
7. Chill bottom and top crusts while you prepare the pie filling.
FOR THE PIE:
8. Prepare salted caramel sauce. Set aside while you prepare the apple filling.
9. Core, peel, and thinly slice the apples, and place in a large mixing bowl. Add zest and juice of the lemon.
10. In a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples. Use your hands to gently mix and coat the apple slices.
ASSEMBLE:
11. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
12. Gather your rolled pie crust, salted caramel, and apple mixture. Begin by layering 1/3 of the apples in the bottom of the crust so that there are minimal gaps. Pour 1/3 of the caramel over the apples. Add 1/3 of the apples and caramel for a second layer, and then add a third layer of apples, and then the caramel again. Save a small portion of the caramel for garnishing.
13. Assemble the lattice crust and blend in with the fluted edges of the crust. Mix together the yolk and cream. Brush the crust with this egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar and sea salt.
14. Bake the pie on a baking sheet larger than the pie pan for 20 minutes (otherwise the caramel will bubble over and burn on the bottom of your oven). Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 25 to 35 minutes. You can test the apples for doneness with a small knife. The apples should be just soft.
15. Let the pie cool. Drizzle the entire top lattice with caramel sauce. Slice and enjoy.

Notes