Chef John’s Caramel Apple Pie

Description

To me, this is the purest and most intensely flavored apple pie recipe there is. The interesting thing about this recipe is the way the caramel sauce is poured over the apples and the lattice crust. You know how with a traditional apple pie some of the apple juices will caramelize as it bakes and bubble out of the pie and bake into and onto the flaky crust? That’s how this whole pie is.

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 5 apples – peeled, cored and sliced
  • 1 pastry for double-crust pie (see footnote for recipe link)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  2. Combine butter
  3. white sugar
  4. brown sugar
  5. water
  6. cinnamon
  7. and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil
  8. remove from heat and set aside.
  9. Roll out half the pastry to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Place bottom crust in pie plate; pour in apple slices.
  10. Roll out top crust into a 10-inch circle. Cut into 8 (1-inch) wide strips with a sharp paring knife or pastry wheel. Weave the pastry strips
  11. one at a time
  12. into a lattice pattern. Fold the ends of the lattice strips under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp to seal.
  13. Pour butter-sugar mixture over top of pie
  14. coating the lattice
  15. and allowing any remaining sauce to drizzle through the crust.
  16. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
  17. and bake until the crust is golden brown
  18. the caramel on the top crust is set
  19. and the apple filling is bubbling
  20. 35 to 40 more minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins

Servings: 8

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