Candy Apple Pie #40

 I was getting a toothache while I was making this pie. Every step felt like another cup of brown sugar and I was worried that it was going to taste like a spoonful of sugar.

However, after tasting it I started wondering why I was so worried about that. It definitely was one of the most sugary pies that I've made, but the apples, graham-cracker crust, and whipped cream were enhanced by the added caramel. I'm not sure it could have taken any more sugar, but I while eating it, I definitely didn't want any less sugar. This is definitely one of those pies that you can count on being a crowd pleaser no matter the crowd.

I don't know how I came across this pie exactly. There are several people who have posted about this recipe but ultimately it was because of what was written on the Doughmesstic's blog that made me want to make it. She told about last year's rigged Martha Stewart pie contest--one that I also attended. It's maybe only funny to read if you were there or if you're interested in reading about what it's like to go to the Martha Stewart show.

In any case, whether it was rigged or not, there was no competition between the pies that I took and this pie (though this wasn't even a finalist). So, I'm over being upset about the contest being rigged--mine were not this tasty, that's for sure.

Also, I must say that this is a pie that Ryan hasn't actually tasted (yet). My boss gave me a bunch of apples so I brought this pie in and shared it with my boss and the rest of the office. I set it out on the break room table and it within 1/2 hour the pie pan had been licked clean and there were people monitoring others slices so they could hopefully get a bigger pie of the pie. So, needless to say, I'll have to make a special one just for him.

One other note, I made the graham crackers and the caramel sauce  from scratch rather than buying them at the store. Several people have commented over the past year about how that seems crazy of me to make these cheap, store-bought ingredients, however, I would like to once again bear my testimony about how much better the finished product tastes with just a little bit more preparedness and a lot less HFCS. I mention it here because I think that is especially true for this pie since it is so simple.

The caramel recipe is below (by the way there is a lot of extra but it is super easy and perfect for other things like ice cream or dipping apples--so don't let it go to waste) and, I will link you back to my blog post that has a graham cracker recipe (the same one I used here).

So...I really don't think that there's more to say on this one. It's delicious and even if it was a big spoonful of sugar, it seemed to make the medicine of work go down a lot smoother.

Candy Apple Pie

(Adapted from MiMi Hodge, winner of Good Morning America’s “Pie of Emeril’s Eye” Contest, 2000)

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs*

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping**

1 cup chopped pecans

Apple Filling:

5 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, sliced very thin)

5 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream Cheese Topping:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

Topping:

3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

1/4 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the Crust: In a medium bowl, combine the crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Mix well and press into a 10-inch pie plate and up the sides. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until golden in color. Remove pie shell from oven and cool completely. Pour caramel into pie shell and sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Refrigerate pie shell while making apple filling.

For the Apple Filling: In a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add apples and stir. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes until apples are softened and tender. Let cool for 10 minutes and pour into pie shell. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F.

For the Cream Cheese Topping: In a medium bowl, using a hand-held mixer on low speed, combine cream cheese and sugar for about 1 minute until smooth. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until fully blended. Pour over apple filling in pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes until an inserted knife comes out clean. Remove pie from oven and let cool. Refrigerate for 4 hours. Let stand outside the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Top with whipped cream, caramel and pecans, and swirl with a knife. Slice and serve.

*Follow this link for a graham cracker recipe

**Caramel Ice Cream Topping:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 tsp salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat melt butter. 

Add brown sugar and whisk until combined and thickened (about 2 minutes)

Whisk in whipped cream and continue to whisk until it is fully combined and thickened (about 2 more minutes). Add salt and vanilla and whisk for 1 more minute.

The sauce is now ready to be used in the pie but you may want to allow it to cool for handling purposes. Note: the sauce will thicken in the fridge.

Sour Cream Apple and Walnut Pie #8

I'm always wary of recipes that claim to be "just like the restaurant's" unless it actually comes from a cookbook published by the restaurant. So when my friend, Ann, forwarded this recipe to me, I tried to find some other "just like the restaurant" variations. The only problem was, I kept finding the exact same recipe, just on different sites and they all had originated from "Tart's with Tops on: or how to make the perfect pie."

So, in the name of experimentation, I decided to throw all my suspicions aside and try a "just like the restaurant" recipe for the Sour Cream Apple and Walnut Pie from The Little Pie Co. (a pie shop in Hell's Kitchen).

At the moment, the jury is still out on this one. Hot pie (i.e. right out of the oven) is not good. It never is. And last night I couldn't resist it's enticing smells (I promise they will drive you nuts while you are cooking)...I dove in while it was still hot.

Wrong, I know better.

However, after it spent some time cooling, it was much, much better. Delicious, in fact. And even if you're not a fan of walnuts and sour cream (which describes some of us at this household) I still recommend trying it. The best part was the combination of the bottom crust with the top crumble. I was very happy with how flaky this crust ended up (especially for a butter crust) and with all that brown sugar and butter, how could you go wrong?
However, it must be said that in my personal opinion, it wasn't quite right. 10 apples? 10? Do you see how high that filling is? That's not the only thing either, the apples aren't as creamy or altogether toothsome as I hoped they'd be (but maybe that's because the ratio of apples to sour cream is not right).

If I were to do it again, I would use only 6 to 8 apples. Also, I would increase the amount of brown sugar mixed in with the apples from "a little" (which is too vague) to maybe 3 tablespoons or 1/4 cup. Also, I would like to play with adding a pinch of salt and/or a sprinkle of cinnamon. All I'm saying is, it could use some tweaking.

But maybe that's just me.

And again, at the moment, it is just me. I left some pie in the break room at my office and there have been nothing but compliments coming my way all day.

One 9-inch Butter Crust:
8 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons ice cold water

Combine flour, salt and cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add cold water and use your hands to combine and form a disk. Chill for 30 minutes (or more).

Roll out on a well floured surface until it's about 12-inches wide.

Sour Cream Apple and Walnut Pie
(adapted from Tart's with Tops on: or how to make the perfect pie)

Filling
10 large eating apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
A little light brown sugar
2/3 cup sour cream

Topping
(note: I doubled this because I had sooo many apples to cover)
½ cup sugar, half light and half dark brown
½ cup unsalted butter, cold
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
½ cup flour
¾ cup walnuts, crushed into small bits

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line pie dish with the rolled-out pastry dough. Cut overhang to one inch and pinch with fingers to seal edges.

Toss the apple slices, sugar, and sour cream in a bowl. Mix with your hands until everything is well amalgamated. Pile apples into the pie shell, packing it tightly and mounding it up toward the center.
For the topping, rub together the sugars, small bits of cold butter, syrup, and flour with your hands. When combined, add the walnuts. Take lumps of the mixture on the palm of one hand and flatten them out with the other palm, so you have a flattened layer rather than a crumble top, and cover the surface of the apples bit by bit (like a puzzle). Cook for 20 minutes before turning the temperature down to 350 F and cooking for another 30 to 40 minutes. Check the top layer and if it has darkened too much, cover with a layer of foil and continue cooking until finished.