Monday Muse: Caramel Apple Pie

New in the Monday Muse series – fall feels with this Caramel Apple Pie by Kate Wood of Wood and Spoon blog! ❤

Before we grab a slice of pie, here’s a quick update on what’s been up in The Foodscape household! I turned 24 in the last week of September and I had what was one among my top 10 birthdays – I spent the day with the brother and the boyfriend, lots of cake, wine and sushi! 😀

The week since has been busy with lots of back-breaking work, chores and challenges. But we got through it, strengthened by the understanding and love of each family member. ❤

Last week’s Monday Muse was a no show, because a recipe by one of my favourite food bloggers and authors let me down. But not this Monday! Because Kate Wood – an amazing blogger, a true inspiration and this year’s winner of the SAVEUR Blog Award in the Best Baking & Sweets category – knows exactly what she’s doing when it comes to this Caramel Apple Pie! 🙂

This pie is everything that’s good about fall. Not that I would know much about fall. Where I live, summer and monsoon are still fighting for chief spot, both making various appearances through the day! I kid you not – those are the only two seasons Mumbai, India, experiences. Yet, being the voracious reader that I am, on multiple occasions, I have savoured lengthy paragraphs on changing leaves and the warm hues of crimson and gold splayed around. I’ve read of chilly evenings, a nip in the air, and being wrapped in coats in tan tones. Of pumpkins and pears and apples flooding the markets. Of campfires in the backyard and toasty S’mores! ❤

So, yes, this Caramel Apple Pie is truly fall on a plate; complete with tart apples, lush caramel and golden, flaky pie crust that is to-die-for!

This recipe serves 6. Here’s what you need:

For the Pie Crust:

• All Purpose Flour – 2 and 1/2 cups
• Sugar – 2 tbsp
• Salted Butter – 226 g, cold and cubed
• Ice Water – 1/4 cup

For the Apple Filling:

• Green Apples – 3, cubed (you can use any baking apple of your choice)
• Ground Cinnamon – 2 tsp
• All Purpose Flour – 1 tbsp
• Sugar – 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp

For the Caramel Sauce:

• Granulated Sugar – 150 g
• Water – 3 tbsp
• Cream – 1/2 cup
• Salt – 1/2 tsp
• Unsalted Butter – 2 tbsp

To Assemble:

• Egg – 1, lightly beaten for egg wash

Here’s how you bake up a storm with this Caramel Apple Pie!

Step 1- Make the Pie Crust: Combine flour and sugar in the food processor/mixer grinder and give it a whiz. Add in the cold butter and pulse until the mixture turns clumpy and crumbly. Then add in 1/4 cup ice water and blend until dough is still crumbly but holds together when pressed between fingers. Turn the dough out on to plastic wrap and form into a disc. Wrap it tightly and refrigerate for an hour.

Step 2 – Make the Apple Filling: Place the diced apples, cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and mix. Add in the flour and mix until the apples are well coated. Cover and set aside.

Step 3 – Make the Caramel Sauce: In a heavy bottom pan placed on medium heat, bring sugar and water to a boil undisturbed. Within 8-10 minutes, you will notice the colour of the syrup changing. When it turns a deep amber hue, pour in the cream, while stirring continuously. This part can be tricky as the mixture will bubble and spit, and the caramel will continue cooking, so be careful. Stir until the cream is well incorporated and the caramel is smooth. Take it off the heat, add in salt and unsalted butter and gently stir. Set aside.

Step 4: Preheat the oven to 190 °C/375° F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the pie pastry until large enough to fit your pie tin with about an inch of overhang. Roll the pastry back over the rolling pin, carefully lift it and place it over the tin. With a light hand, push the dough into the fluted sides of the tin and patch up any tears with a bit of remaining dough.

Step 5: Fill the pie crust with the prepared Apple Filling, carefully spreading and evening it out as you go. Then pour the caramel sauce over it until completely covered. Roll the remaining dough out and use star-shaped cookie cutters of various sizes to get pastry stars. Place these pastry stars atop the pie filling in any pattern you like and lightly press down the edges to secure them to the rest of the pastry.

Step 6: Using a pastry brush, lightly glaze the tops of the pastry stars and the sides with egg wash. Pop the pie into the oven and bake for 50 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the caramel is bubbling. To ensure even browning of the pastry, rotate the pie half-way through the baking process.

This Caramel Apple Pie is all kinds of lip-smacking. Buttery, flaky pastry, makes way for a gorgeous, sweet and tangy pie filling, tied together in a fancy ribbon with a flourish of cinnamon! At first I was skeptical about the pie being ultra sweet with the amount of caramel sauce going into it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the tartness of green apples perfectly balances out the sweetness and richness of the caramel, making for a truly delicious bite of pie! ❤

This is the first pie I’ve ever gotten right, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful to Kate Wood! I did stray from the original recipe a bit. Instead of Kate’s pie crust recipe which uses shortening (something that is very hard to find where I live), I went with a trusty Martha Stewart recipe that’s been my go-to for years! And it worked perfectly. I do urge you to try Kate’s pastry recipe too, I’m sure it will be just as blissful, if not more!

If you’re looking for a gloomy day pick-me-up or something to capture the essence of fall, this Caramel Apple Pie is just what you need! I’m enjoying it bang in the middle of a rainy-hot day, so I know this pie doesn’t have to be a seasonal affair! Bake yourself this Caramel Apple Pie and turn that frown into a smile. 🙂 Or that smile into a wider smile! 😀

For regular updates on what’s happening in The Foodscape kitchen, follow us on Instagram at @thefoodscape! You’ll love all the deliciousness there, I promise! ❤