Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Apple pie all decked out.
(Recipe adapted from Four and Twenty Blackbirds’ Melissa and Emily Elsen)

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 25 min

Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie

Ingredients

2-crust Pie Crust
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

Preparation

Make the pie crust:

  1. Prepare one 2-crust batch of all-butter pie crust.
  2. Roll the bottom crust to fit a 9-inch pan, and cut the top crust as a lattice, approximately 1-inch in width. Chill the rolled crust while you prepare the salted caramel and apple filling.

Make the salted caramel:

  1. Prepare salted caramel sauce. Set aside while you prepare the apple filling.

Make the apple filling:

  1. Core, peel, and thinly slice the apples, and place in a large mixing bowl. Add zest and juice of the lemon.
  2. 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 the pie:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. 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.
  3. Assemble the lattice crust and flute the 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Let the pie cool. Drizzle the entire top lattice with caramel sauce. Slice and enjoy.