Caramel Apple Pie

What to do with those left over Bramley apples...crumble or pie? Husband picks pie, so here it is. This is slightly different to a traditional apple pie recipe in that the apples are partially cooked in a buttery caramel before baking in the oven. With big ole' Bramley apples being so tart, I feel that they need something a little extra to bring out their potential and make them as delicious as their sweet apple cousins.


Ingredients

For the pastry
250g plain flour
125g of butter, cubed (for the hardcore pie eaters you could use half lard, half butter)
pinch of salt
3-4 tablespoons cold water

For the filling
50g butter
1tbsp plain flour
50g caster sugar
50g dark muscavado sugar
25ml water
700g bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
caster sugar for sprinkling

1 x 25cm pie dish

Start by making your pastry. Sift your flour and salt into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Pour in the cold water and cut it through with a rounded knife until it all starts to come together. Knead the pastry a little until it forms a ball, then wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30minutes or so to rest. If it is too dry add more water, too wet add more flour.

Take 2 thirds of your pastry and roll it out onto a floured surface into a circle, big enough to fill your pie dish. Gently press your pastry into the pie dish and trim off any excess. Wrap it up again and put back in the fridge while you prepare your apples.

Peel, core and slice your apples about 5mm thick. Squeeze the lemon over them and grate in the zest to stop them from going brown. Sprinkle over the cinnamon.

To make the caramel sauce melt the butter in a large pan then add the flour and cook gently for one minute. Add both sugars and the water, bring to the boil then simmer for a few minutes. Toss in your apples and cook for a few more minutes until the apples just start to soften. Pour them into your pastry case and allow to cool.

Preheat your oven to 170˚C.

Now roll out the remaining pastry and cut it into 10 or 12 strips as long as your pie dish. Using a pastry brush, brush a little water around the edges of your tart to allow the lattice top to stick. Weave your lattice on top, securing down the edges and trimming off the excess pastry (here's a video on how to weave a lattice top). Sprinkle the top generously with caster sugar then bake for 30minutes. Serve with custard or icecream.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Rosie, I spent hours looking for a cake I want to make. Your pie looks delicious and I'm going to give it a go later ;)

    ReplyDelete