The Classic Apple Pie

The beautiful looking apple pie makes a perfect breakfast or an evening snack for me. I think, it could be a dessert in the dinner menu too. Well you can have it anytime..

My refrigerator had some beautiful juicy apples lying in it and I wanted to do something classic with it. The apples were ready to get tossed up in the beautiful flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg and caramel.. and get wrapped in a fabulous flaky cover..

So I promised them…they would be a part of a beautiful pie. And the promise was fulfilled….. The pie got a crispy flaky crust and perfectly baked apples. Cinnamon and caramel played an important part in bringing out the best of flavours. You won’t believe I used ghee (clarified butter) instead of butter in making the crust. It worked wonders :-) . Just for your information ghee is widely used in making Indian desserts.

Sharing with you the recipe of the pie.

Procedure

First, lets make the dough for the crust.

Ingredients for making dough.

2 cups all purpose flour ( I used bread flour instead as I have it in plenty in my pantry).
3 tbsp ghee(clarified butter) at normal temperature. Do not melt it. You can use 1/2 cup cold butter instead. (cut into small pieces). We want everything cold to get flaky crust.
1/2-1 cup ice cold water for kneading the dough.
1 tsp salt

Procedure.

Add salt to the flour. Mix well. Add in the ghee/butter. Mix it well lightly to form lump like mixture. We don't want the butter or ghee to melt. (You can used hand blender to do this.). Add water little by little and gently knead it to form a ball shape. Brush it with some butter all over. Make two balls out of it. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for atleast 25 minutes. (You can even use the dough later if you want to. Keep it refrigerated.)

Second, let’s make the salted caramel sauce that we will use in filling and also drizzle it over the baked pie.

Ingredients for making the salted caramel sauce.

1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup butter ( can use more unto 6 tbsp. I used less.)
1/2 cup heavy cream (or use 1/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk)
1/2 tsp salt.
1-2 tsp cornstarch or all purpose flour.

Procedure to make the sauce.

Take a deep vessel and add sugar in it. Let it stay on medium flame. Don't stir. Wait until the sugar has almost melted. You can move the vessel to and fro but don't stir the sugar. (Don’t either touch it, it will be too hot and can burn your skin).
Once the sugar turns deep brown add the butter. Stir it for about 2-3 minutes.
Now add cream. It will splatter so be careful. Let it boil for about 1-2 minutes.
Add about 1-2 tsp of cornstarch or all purpose flour to thicken the sauce. Stir it well so that it gets incorporated thoroughly.
Switch of the flame. Add some salt and let it cool down. (You can even add some flavor like lemon zest, vanilla etc. I kept it simple.) Your salted caramel sauce is ready. You can even store it in air tight container and refrigerate for later use. You just need to heat it again for use.)

Third, let’s make the apple filling.

Ingredients for the filling.

2 fresh medium sized apple diced (I took fresh ones. You can take canned ones too)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp nutmeg powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup salted caramel sauce (prepared in step 2)

Procedure to make the filling.

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl and toss it up so that everything is incorporate well. Add more spices if you want.

Fourth, let’s roll out the dough and make the beautiful pies ready to be baked.

Take one ball of dough on a platform. Sprinkle some flour on the surface and start rolling out the dough with a rolling pin. Roll it out thin and equal all the way, to form a rectangular sheet.
Using a cookie cutter or lid of any container, cut out 2 small circular sheets for base of the two pies. I did the lattice (mat) shaped surface for the pies because it looks so beautiful. For each pie’s surface cover, cut out around 9-10 equal sized strips for one pie using a knife or a pizza cutter. I did some pattern on the stripes too.
Now apply water on edges of the base sheet. Put around 2-3 tbsp of apple filling in the centre leaving the edges empty.
Now one by one apply the surface stripes vertically leaving little space between each. Lightly press the end and cut off extra dough to retain circular shape.
Now start inserting stripes one at time horizontally to form a lattice pattern. See the picture for more details. Apply a little water on the edges and press firmly at the ends. Cut out extras to retain circular shape.
Gently brush out the surface with water/butter or egg wash. Sprinkle some coarse sugar on the surface. It looks wonderful after the pie is baked. Repeat the procedure for the remaining pies. (I did two at a time and baked the remaining one the next day. )
Roll out parchment paper on baking tray. Let it rest in refrigerate for 5-10 minutes before baking.
Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 400 degree F. Bake the pies on 400 deg F for about 20 minutes and once the crust becomes hard, bake it for another 20 -30 minutes on 375 degree F or until it looks perfectly golden brown.
Once baked, it should be a crispy crust on outside and you be be able to cut through the pie completely.
Let it cool down. Before serving drizzle some salted caramel sauce over the pie.