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

Salted Caramel Blondies

These Salted Caramel Blondies tasted even better than I thought they would.  Did you know that feasting is an Election Night tradition in newsrooms?  I was thinking of a simple snack to make and found a recipe for these at Two Peas and Their Pod.  They were so rich, it worked to cut them into about a quarter of the size of the bars you see here.  And they fueled editors and reporters until our boatload delivery of Italian food and North End desserts arrived as the polls closed.  Around midnight, as the coffee supply was refreshed, a coworker was saying she could use a blondie but they were long gone.

I wasn't always a fan of caramel, finding it awfully sweet.  But salt adds complexity, and I'll even say sophistication, to caramel.  And although there are recipes out there that will call for homemade caramel sauce -- and I will often go for the made-from-scratch stuff -- I loved how the caramel sauce came together in the microwave in under 2 minutes by heating caramel squares with a bit of cream.  Perfect for when you've got a hectic Election Night, or just want to curl up with a book, a blondie, and a glass of milk.

"Fancy Twix," or Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars

"Would I like a fancy, homemade version of a Twix?"  I asked Joe recently.  He said yes.  See, I'm not big on candy or candy bars.  My friend Charmie used to say I like "old people candy" -- Werther's and Raisinets.  Hard candies, gummies, and nougat don't do it for me.  I don't even know what makes a Twix different from a Snickers or Milky Way.  But when I saw this recipe at Tracey's Culinary Adventures, I thought the shortbread layered with caramel and chocolate looked pretty damn good.

If Twix tasted like this, I might be more of a candy bar fan.  Wow.  The shortbread is nice and crumbly when you bite into it, the caramel is smooth and rich, and the bittersweet chocolate topped with coarse salt is my favorite.  Don't skip the salt, which transforms the flavors of chocolate and caramel.  Tracey mentioned in her post that she halved the amount of caramel and thought the result was perfect -- I agree, but Joe wanted more caramel.  Depends on how much of a caramel fan you are.  Also, I like mine straight from the fridge because the bars get a little soft at room temperature.

This wasn't difficult at all to make, though you have to make the three components in stages and give them time to set.  I've done trickier candy-making, like homemade marshmallows.  If there's a deterrent to making this again, it's that a pound of butter -- that's right, four sticks -- goes into this recipe.  Two for the shortbread, one for the caramel layer, and one for the chocolate.  You can halve the recipe, but what would you do with the other half a can of sweetened condensed milk?  This will be a repeat in my kitchen, but we'll be giving a bunch away like we did this time.  Spread the love, and the calories.

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