Sunday, June 15, 2008

CARAMEL APPLE PECAN PIE

I love caramel apples! Well, as long as they have a crisp, tart apple in
the middle and homemade caramel that is. I have been looking for a
good recipe to try for a fancier apple pie, so I made this one tonight.

The recipe called for a deep pie dish and I couldn't remember where
I put mine since I hardly ever use it, so I doubled just the crust recipe
and baked it in a small 9 x 13 glass pan. I used Granny Smith apples for
tartness. It looks like a lot of fussing, but it really wasn't that difficult
to make.

I thought this pie was really good and all 3 kids gave it a thumbs up.
My husband said he loved the flavor, but the caramel stuck to his teeth
a little. Now I wonder if I was to pour the caramel over the apples and
then put the crumb mixture over that if it wouldn't help a bit with the
stickiness...the flavor was good enough that I will probably make this
again and try that.

Be sure and cut it with a knife rinsed in hot water between slices!



CARAMEL APPLE PECAN PIE

CRUST

1 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
10 caramels, cut into 4 pieces each.

Mix flour, sugar and butter and press into buttered deep dish pie plate
covering the bottom and sides. Scatter the caramel pieces over the pie
shell and place in the freezer while you make the filling. Preheat the
oven to 400 degrees.

FILLING

8 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples (I always use Granny Smith)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the apples, brown sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl. Mix well and
set aside for 10 minutes to juice. Mix the granulated sugar and cornstarch with
a whisk in a small bowl and stir into the fruit along with the cinnamon and
vanilla. Pour this filling into the pie shell, smoothing the fruit with your hands.
Put on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.

PECAN CRUMB TOPPING

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold butter cut in 1/4" pieces

Combine the flour, pecan halves, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor.
Pulse several times, then scatter the butter over the mixture and pulse the machine
again until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and rub the
mixture between your fingers until it makes damp, gravelly crumbs. Place in the
refrigerator until ready to use.

Remove the pan from the oven after 30 minutes and reduce the temperature to
375 degrees. Carefully pour the crumb mixture over the pie, covering it completely.
Tamp the crumbs down lightly. Return pie to oven and bake until the juices bubble
thickly around the edges, about 35 minutes. Check to make sure the pie is not getting
too dark on top. You can cover it lightly with foil if it is.

Transfer the pie to a rack and cool for about an hour. At this point you can make the
caramel.

CARAMEL AND GARNISH

3 tablespoons butter cut in pieces
1 Tablespoon water
30 caramels
Pecan halves
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine the butter, water and caramels in the top of a double boiler over low heat
and barely simmering water. Stir occasionally to help melt the caramels. Whisk the
mixture until smooth and drizzle over the surface of the pie. Immediately press a
few pecan halves and sprinkle the chopped pecans over the caramel in random fashion.
You do have to work quickly in this step so the caramel doesn't firm up too much for
the pecans to stick.

Let pie set for at least an hour before serving for the filling to set up.

Serves 8--awesome with vanilla ice cream on the side!

3 comments:

Laura ~Peach~ said...

pie looks awesome... With cory I di dnot show until my last month... well nakid I did not not in clothing... then I BALLOONED! with martha the day I concieved you could set a plat on my belly it ballooned out so fast...
hugs and thank you
Laura

Anonymous said...

yum.

The eagles were cool too.

It's storming so I am gonna be brief in my comments and set the electrical devices down for now :)

Anonymous said...

This looks so delicious!! Please say there's not too many calories!! :)
Hope you have a lovely day,

Sharon

P.S. I put the link up to the whole wheat bread recipe on my blog in case you didn't see it!

Blessings!!