Salted Caramel Apple Pie

You might be asking, another pie??  But it's pie season, and this one is so good!  This is not just any apple pie, but one with homemade salted caramel stirred into the filling, and additional caramel poured on top when served.  The big apple slices hold their shape and juiciness, and the caramel makes the filling wonderfully saucy.

This pie is also different because I finally decided to test-drive a recipe for a yogurt-butter crust, and I can report that it is super flaky and easy to roll out.  It wasn't so easy to assemble.  For the first time I used a handheld pastry blender like the recipe called for, rather than my food processor.  I've concluded that I'm lazy and prefer the machine, plus I feel like the machine works the dough less.  And we all know that working the dough less ensures tender pastry.  Also, while the yogurt works as a tenderizer, there simply wasn't enough moisture to bring the dough together.  I added about a quarter-cup extra water along with another teaspoon of yogurt.  I could chalk this up to the awfully dry conditions at home during fall and winter.  But continuing to work in the extra liquid made me afraid I was overworking the dough.  The pastry still came out tender, but next time I'll go the lazy route and use the machine.

Part of my autumn pie madness: puff pastry apple tartlets thrown together at a moment's notice

Finally, the caramel is simple to make, and I didn't even break out my candy thermometer.  But if you're short on time, I think storebought salted caramel would work just as well.  One last tip: I'm always afraid of crystallization when making caramels and syrups, so I put the lid on the pot for 2 minutes during the vigorous stage of boiling -- the steam builds up and washes down the sides, along with any crystals that have formed.  Both the pie dough and the caramel can be made a day or so in advance, and refrigerated until needed. Microwave the caramel to make it warm and pourable before using.  Have a good Thanksgiving, folks, and may it be filled with pie.

Looking for other Thanksgiving dessert ideas?  Here's a few:

Black Bottom Tart

Chocolate Cream Pie

Maple-Glazed Apple Crostata

Pear Custard Tart

Pecan Bars

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Sour Cream Pumpkin Tart

Vanilla-Bean Pear & Apple Tart

Vanilla-Bean Pear & Apple Tart

I have a zillion apples to get through after apple picking.  There's something about fall that makes you bypass even the farmers markets and head for the orchards to pick your own.  Is it the gorgeous foliage views, the hay rides, the cider doughnuts?  When we first arrived, the aroma of cider doughnuts was intoxicating, and they tasted just as good as they smelled.  With doughnuts in our bellies, we picked more apples than we needed.  And I knew the purpose most of them were meant for: pies.  With that in mind, the bulk of our apples were Golden Delicious and Mutsu, which hold their shape well when baked.

The orchard; my niece, Audrey; and a cider doughnut.

I was looking for a new way to do apple pie -- I've done traditional double crust, tarts, turnovers, hand pies, and crostatas.  The recipe I chose involved simmering the apples with some Red Devoe pears in a bath of melted butter and vanilla bean, and they were baked into the pie topped with a walnut lattice crust.  Apple, pear, butter, and vanilla bean combined are truly heavenly, and the chunky pieces of fruit were juicy.  Except... the bottom crust was soggy and the recipe called for an unusual lattice that came with no instructions: the strips were wide with no spaces between them.  I've made several lattice pies before so I wrangled one, but it was fussy.  So I set about re-creating the recipe.

Enter this tart.  It's shallower than a pie and has a lot less fruit, so no soggy bottom crust.  No tricky lattice dough to contend with, and no walnuts to blend into it.  I kept the blend of pears and apples, sprinkling them with vanilla sugar and dotting the whole thing with cold butter.  Much easier and faster than the pie, which was a production.  I might cut the fruit thicker next time because I did miss the big, juicy chunks from the pie.  It also didn't have as much vanilla-butter sauciness as the pie, but tarts are generally drier like that.  Don't substitute that vanilla bean with extract!  Go ahead and splurge on a bean, because it makes a world of difference.  Now I've just got to work my way through about a bushel more of apples!

Maple-Glazed Apple Crostata

I always look forward to baking an apple pie in the fall.  The oven warms the house, and fills it with the smells of cinnamon and nutmeg.  My favorite is a traditional double-crust apple pie, but it's kind of a production.  So when I don't have all day, I turn to open-faced pies like this crostata.  I had made an apple crostata previously with cranberries, but plain ol' apple is usually what I want.  This version is packed with apples.  The recipe calls for just dumping them all onto the dough, but I wanted a fancier look.  Unfortunately, shingling the apples instead of dumping them into one big mound meant not all of them fit, plus they were so packed in that the slices became vertical instead of slanted.  No matter, still delicious.  My aesthetic quibble was actually the crust edges -- I didn't think the crostata needed a 3-inch border like the recipe called for so I went with 2 inches, and you can see it came up short.  But like I said, still delicious.

And it still managed to wow a crowd.  With the leftover apples that didn't fit, I made a halved recipe for the crostata, resulting in this smaller one we ate at home.  I used gala apples, which have great flavor and hold their shape well during baking.  And the bulk bag of organic galas cost the same per pound as the loose galas.  My one disappointment with this recipe was that you don't really taste the maple syrup you brush on the apples at the very end.  I suggest skipping that step, or using more syrup and then telling me how that turned out.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds' pies

Before I set out to visit my family in New York for the Lunar New Year, I asked my sister if we were planning to do anything.  Visits with the parents can turn into couch potato sessions, lots of cooking and baking, and lots of baby watching and chasing.  She suggested some urban indoor park in Manhattan.  No way -- I can go to some real outdoor parks right here!  She then mentioned the former railroad tracks that have become High Line.  Um, no.  Not interested.

Then she mentioned this pie place I had heard of, Four & Twenty Blackbirds.  "Wait, did you say pie?!"

So we set out from Bensonhurst to Park Slope, leaving her Little One with my mother.  The area and neighborhood weren't too impressive.  I could have walked right past the place if I wasn't looking for it, and the bars made it look like some kind of jail.  Yes, I know bars are sometimes necessary in Brooklyn.  But it doesn't say "bakery" to me.

The inside looked all right, a nice, casual space.  Some savories and small sweets were displayed in a glass case, though none tempted me enough.  So, let's move on to the good stuff.

We got three by the slice to share: Bourbon Pear Crumble, Salted Caramel Apple, and Lemon Chess.

Clockwise from top right: Salted Caramel Apple, Lemon Chess, and Bourbon Pear Crumble

Mom and I thought the Bourbon Pear Crumble was all right -- lightly sweet, nice flavors, but nothing that knocked our socks off.  Sis hated it, though to this day I haven't gotten her to describe why.  Mom was crazy about the Lemon Chess, but Sis and I thought it was just okay and tasted just like a lemon bar.  I loved the Salted Caramel Apple, and Mom and Sis thought it was all right.  The Little One smiled repeatedly when given apple pie filling to taste.  Sis pointed out you couldn't taste much salt or caramel, and I had to agree.  I loved it because the apples were sweet and crisp, not overly soft or mealy, and the crust was both crisp and tender. It was a well-executed pie.

That said, I don't think I'd trek out to Park Slope again for these pies.  These two hands can bake and have made many a pie, and nothing was so outstanding as to warrant the trip again.  Sis was more harsh, saying nothing in our selection impressed her.  Mom, being old-fashioned and not very adventurous, couldn't believe we took the train there just for some pie.  If you happen to be in the neighborhood, though, I definitely recommend stopping by and tasting for yourself.

Apple Pie, 2.0

I can't help it -- it's an old favorite, especially in the fall!  I'm kind of recycling a post, but I really do use my tried and true recipes over and over again.  And with the weather getting chilly, it's been perfect lately for turning on that oven and making something comforting.  Plus, it fills your home with the most wonderful aromas of apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

This time, I added some apple cutouts for a decorative touch. Bake them on a sheet pan for 10 minutes while the pie is baking. When the pie has cooled a bit, affix your cutouts using some corn syrup.

This recipe is from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible.  Her cream cheese pie dough has become my favorite for its flakiness, slight tang, and ease in rolling out.  She explains in the book that cream cheese has a high water content that's great for the pastry.  My other reasons for liking this pie (the baking reasons, not the obvious eating ones) include baking the pie on a baking stone on the floor of the oven to avoid that awful soggy bottom crust, and cooking the juices of the apples to concentrate the flavor.  True, I spent a good few hours making this, but the extra steps are rewarding in the end.  Keep in mind when planning that you can't eat it for a few hours, or the juices will run out everywhere before they've had a chance to set.  I won't repost the recipe, since you can find it here.