Hmm, I'm not really sure what possessed me to make a pie from scratch, I mean crust and all. Oh wait, yes I do, it is the 10lbs of apples that we are still consuming from our apple picking trip...AND I owe you a For The Love of Apples Part 2 post because you can't have a Part 1 without at least a Part 2 :)
Let me start by saying I have NEVER done this before and I may NEVER do it again. And you might ask how this fits into my 30 day plan but for me baking is like therapy and sometimes you just need some counseling. For some people it's gardening or working on cars or playing video games but for me it's baking.
I don't get to do it as often as I like and honestly I'm not that great at it but for some reason it just feels therapeutic. And it is cheap. And I am of the generation that was taught to clean our plates so throwing away 5-10lbs of apples was not an option.
I was looking for apple recipes online and I stumbled across this Salted Caramel Apple Pie recipe from Jenn at Clean and Scentsible through the Whipperberry blog and when I read the words salted caramel I was all in. So here it goes:
Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening {cut into ½ inch cubes}
- 6-8 tablespoon ice cold water
Filling
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 8 medium apples peeled, cored, and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1 can Dulce de Leche Caramel sauce {***I could not find this so see the note below}
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp. sea salt {I used coarse sea salt}
Topping
- one egg, beaten
- 1-2 tbsp. sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt {I used coarse sea salt}
*** I followed the recipe pretty closely but I wasn't able to find the Dulce de Leche Caramel sauce so I found this recipe from the Pioneer Woman and made my own caramel sauce.
So now I am going to Simple Stylings it up for you and let you know what I would do next time if I ever attempted another pie again :) First off, don't make your own pie crust, it is not necessary. I would buy a ready to make one and call it a day. I probably rolled that stupid crust out 15 times before I got it right ~ but it's always a little fun when I have a chance to use my Granny's old wooden rolling pin!
Secondly, I am sure there is a contraption or two that would help you peel and core 8 apples. I don't have anything like that (and remember I am not spending any unnecessary money right now) so I peeled and cored my apples by hand with a vegetable peeler and a knife.
I think if you do these two things it would make this recipe a lot simpler. If you can find the caramel sauce in a can that might help too but making it was really super easy so I didn't have a problem with that. So there you go. I hope these couple of tips make this really great recipe a little easier for you.
Have y'all ever baked a pie completely from scratch? Let me know if you try this and feel free to share any great apple recipes you have!
Have a good one and we'll see you tomorrow!
Jennifer
Oh, that looks so delicious! And good for you for making the crust on your own, even if you'll buy store bought from now on! I am not a cook; nor a baker...I read all of these cookbooks and try to convince myself that making delicious things would be an incredible experience. I'm reading Bread and Wine right now...the idea of loving being in the kitchen sounds great; maybe someday that spark will ignite! Right now I'd rather have a paintbrush in my hand than a spatula! ;-)
Simple Stylings {For The Semi-Creative Mind}
I prefer a paint brush too but I do enjoy being in the kitchen but it is not easy to make good food that is pretty. I wish I was better at it. I can't wait to start that book soon...
Debbie Hogan
It looks so pretty! The big question is how did it taste??
Simple Stylings {For The Semi-Creative Mind}
Thanks! There was a taste test and everyone seemed to really liked it. I think the salted caramel sauce really made it! I will say that the crust was not extraordinary so I would never worry about making that from scratch :)