Ling's caramel apple pie

[Ling]

Ling's caramel apple pie

Serves 8 as Dessert.

A few years ago, I set out to make what I hoped would be the best apple pie. I tested a wide variety of apples that were readily available in Vancouver, and finally settled on a mix of Fuji and Granny Smith. The combined weight of the apples used should be just over 3 pounds. I probably made over twenty apple pies to arrive at this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

(The baking from frozen tip is one I picked up from Wendy DeBord this year! Baking the pie this way allows the crust to brown before the filling starts to cook, and even the bottom crust is browned through. Prior to using Wendy's method, I was baking the pie at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then lowering the temperature to 350 for 45 minutes.)

• 4 large Fuji apples
  
• 2 Granny Smith apples
  
• 1/2 c brown sugar
  
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
  
• 3 T cornstarch
  
• 2 T ground cinnamon*
  
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
  
• 1 T lemon juice
  
• 1 T vanilla extract
  
• 4 T softened butter
  
• 1 T AP flour
  
• 1 double crust pie crust recipe (I use lard, a bit of sour cream, and a tsp of vinegar in mine)
  

*I like an intense burst of cinnamon in my pie, but you can lower the amount to 1 tbsp or 1.5 tbsp if you prefer.

Peel the apples, then quarter them. Cut out the core, and then cut each quarter into 4 wedges (so each apple yields 16 wedges). Each wedge should be about ½ inch thick. Then cut each wedge into 3 pieces (so that each piece is bite-sized.) Taste the apples and note whether they are particularly firm, of medium firmness, or a bit on the soft and mealy side.

Put the apple wedges in a large mixing bowl and cover with the remaining ingredients in the filling, except the butter and remaining 1 tbsp flour. '

Toss everything to mix, making sure the dry ingredients coat the apple wedges evenly.

In a large pan, melt the butter and add the apples. Cook, stirring occasionally. If the apples you bought are firm, cook them on medium heat for 7 minutes, so they are a little bit softened on the outside, but still raw. The sugars should have melted with the butter and combined with the cornstarch to make a thick, brown syrupy sauce. If the apples are not very juicy and your sauce becomes as thick as glue, you might have to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to the sauce to loosen it. (The sauce should have the consistency of Chinese oyster sauce.)

If the apples were not very firm to begin with (or if you are using apples with a slightly softer texture, like Golden Delicious, then only cook the mixture on medium heat for 5 minutes.)

Roll out one of the disks of dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Make sure the dough is larger than the 9” glass pie plate, so you can seal the edges of the pie later. Scoop the filling into the pie, then sprinkle the top of the filling with 1 tablespoon of flour evenly. Roll out the other disk of dough (larger than 9” diameter) and place it on the pie. Seal the edges using whatever decorative method you desire.

Brush the top crust with a beaten egg white thinned out with a few tbsp of water, if you wish.

Cover the pie with plastic wrap, then place it in the freezer. When it is frozen all the way through, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 degrees F if you're using a convection oven.) Bake the pie for approximately 2 hours-2 hrs. 15 minutes, until the crust is browned and crisp.

Keywords: American, Dessert, Intermediate, Pie

( RG1580 )