Recipe: Caramel Dutch Apple Pie

I was never much of a cooked fruit eater growing up.  Whether it was jelly, pie, or sauce, I just wasn't interested.  I liked my fruit fresh.  Over all, that's still my preference, but I've come to enjoy fruit in a larger variety of ways.

Now that Fall is here, I'm feeling the need to make fall type stuff.  With apples on prominent display at the grocery store, I decided to try my hand at making apple pie.  I only started eating it about a year ago.  My parents live close to an orchard, and the town that keeps it has a few pie shops.  They bought us some pie while we were visiting, and I was finally converted.

I decided to go Dutch with this pie.  It's like the best of both a pie and a crisp.  Flaky crust, delicious crumble.  I started by making a slightly altered version of my mom's pie crust.  I substituted the shortening for coconut oil (chilled) and a couple tablespoons of butter.  A little sugar and a dash of cinnamon to play up the fact it's being used for a sweet pie.  I popped it in the fridge while I got down to business.

While prepping the fruit is probably usually the most time consuming, I recently acquired my mom's...apple...whirly...thing.  The peeler-cutter?  It's cool even if I don't know what it's called, alright?  Pop on an apple...

...and crank it.  It took a couple tries before I remembered the little tips and tricks to using it, but once done right, you end up with a lovely spiral of peeled, cored, and sliced apple.  Simply break it apart, and it's ready to use.

I tossed the apples in sugar, both white and brown, cinnamon, and cloves.  I should probably mention I personally used Red Delicious.  I like their sweetness.  Others like tart apples.  Use whatever apples you like best, in my opinion.

Once in the shell, I added some caramel.  Now, I meant to grab a jar of sauce to simply scoop over, but since I forgot it and didn't want to walk all the way over to get it, I just grabbed some cubes that were near the registers.  I used about ten, pulling them apart to distribute them over the pie.

Time for the crumble.  While browsing recipes, I noticed most recipes just use a traditional crumble of flour, sugar, and butter.  While I'm sure that's perfectly delicious, I wanted something more.  So I substituted some of the flour for oats.  I love the texture it adds.  I poured it over the top, placed the pie on a pan with foil, and popped it in the oven.

Let me just say, the smell while it was cooking was both divine and torture.  I think my favorite moment of cooking something in the oven is when you open the door when it's done, and that big waft of scented, warm air rushes out.  Mmm.  A little browned, and bubbly at the edges, I knew it was ready to come out.  This is always the real test of patience: letting it cool.

But the reward for waiting?  So well worth it.  Unfortunately, I will probably never serve up a perfect looking piece of pie, but as long as it tastes amazing, who cares?  A scoop of ice cream, and the warmth had it melting into it.  I love a la mode.  Sweet apples and caramel.  A zing of spice from the cinnamon and cloves.  It was delicious.

Perhaps I'll have a slice for breakfast instead of waiting for more dessert...

Recipe

Preheat oven to 375.

Pie Crust (use store bought if you prefer):

2 cups Flour

2/3 cups Shortening OR Coconut Oil (chilled)

(optional if using coconut oil) 2 tbsp Butter

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp sugar

dash of Cinnamon

6-9 tbsp cold water

1. Sift together dry ingredients.

2. Cut in shortening or coconut oil.  Texture should be small crumbles.

3. Add water and knead until dough just sticks together enough to form a ball.

4. Roll out and place in pie pan.  Crimp edges.  Chill while making apple filling.  

Apple Filling

5 medium large Apples (Mine came to 2.4 pounds when weighed at the grocery store)
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3 tbsp Flour
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/2 cup Caramel sauce OR 10 Caramel cube candies, pulled apart.

1. Peel and cut up apples.  Place in large bowl.  Add vanilla extract, and toss.
2. In a separate bowl, mix both sugars, flour, cinnamon, and cloves.
3. Pour mixture over apples, and toss to coat evenly.
4. Put apple mixture into pie crust.  Distribute caramel evenly over the top.

Crumble Topping
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Oats
1/3 cup Butter, partially softened
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 dash Cloves

1. In medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
2. Cut in butter to form crumbly texture.  (I used my hands to work it into the dry ingredients)
3. Distribute mixture evenly over pie filling.
4. Place pie on foil lined cookie sheet, then bake in oven for about 40-50 minutes.
5. Let cool, and enjoy!