Sweet Melissa Sunday - Double-Crusted Caramel Apple Pie

(Forgive the 45 minute early post...I worked all day today and have to work 8 1/2 hours tomorrow. If I don't post now, it will be 9:30 or later tomorrow night before I will be able to post this.)

I'm so excited and nervous! My pick is being showcased this week. I have been anxiously watching the days tick by, getting closer and closer to the 21st. And, here it is! And, here you are! Welcome!!

It seemed like it was going to be forever until I got to pick a recipe for our SMS group, and yet, just 6 short months later, here we are with my pick, Double-Crusted Caramel Apple Pie.  I am so excited to be hosting this week(I know I said that already) and I sincerely hope that my choice didn't cause anyone too much trouble. I know there were a few out there with pie crust anxiety.  Hopefully those concerns were for naught. :)

I really gave a lot of thought to my choice. Last time I got to pick a recipe-in another group-it was a choice between an apple tart and a chocolate cake. I chose the chocolate cake and then wished I had chosen the apple tart. (I made it later and it was wonderful!) This time while looking through Melissa's cookbook I spied this recipe and knew I had to try it. I love apple pie and I love caramel and couldn't wait to try the two together.

I chose to use Melissa's All-Butter Pie Dough for my pie. She gives you a choice between that and her Flaky Pie Dough. I had not tried the All-Butter and that's why I picked it. It was super easy to put together. I made it in a bowl with a pastry cutter, but you can also make it in a food processor. How great is that?!

I recently made some vanilla sugar and decided to use it in the caramel. I followed the directions to a "t" and my first batch of caramel seized up and became a pan of hard, lumpy sugar. Not caramel at all. It was like all the water cooked out leaving just sugar. Not good. I was thinking "Of course, the recipe I pick is going to give me the most trouble!". I dumped the clumpy sugar and started again. The second time it stayed liquid. However, after 15-20 minutes, it was still not amber in color. I was afraid if I left it on the burner much longer the water would cook out again and I would have another pan of sugar. So, I pulled the pan off the stove, added the cream, butter and vanilla and let it cool. Not very dark or amber in color, but it tasted great!

The next little kink in the recipe was the apples. My hubby had brought home a 3 lb. bag of apples that someone at work gave him. They were Galas (I think) and I couldn't see buying Granny Smith apples (even though I know they are tarter than Galas) when I had so many apples here at the house. What I did was up the lemon zest some and added the juice from the lemon. I debated long and hard about whether to add cinnamon to the apples. The recipe doesn't call for any, but all my apple pies have cinnamon in them. It's what makes it an apple pie, at least in my opinion (and we all know what opinions are like :D) However, at the last minute I decided to stick with the recipe like it was written.

One thing I did do that was not in the recipe was add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of pecans. The hubby asked if I could do that. Other than that (and the vanilla sugar) I made no other changes.


So, what did I think? I commented in the P&Q that I liked it, but  have to say that I wasn't overly impressed. Maybe it was the lack of cinnamon. Perhaps it was the vanilla sugar or the fact that the caramel never really got caramel-y. Could have been the apples. I liked it okay, but not as much as some other apple pies I have made.  Not much flavor at all. The crust was sensational! Flaky, buttery, perfect in every way. The caramel tasted good in the pan, but seemed to lose something when mixed with the apples. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being awesome, I would give this a 4.  The pie itself was kind of a let down for me. I was even disappointed with the pictures I took of it. Such a bummer. To finally get to pick a recipe and then have it not live up to the expectations I had. Maybe I will have better luck next time I get to pick. :} But, don't take my review as gospel. Head over to SMS and see what the other bakers thought. Perhaps someone else had better luck than I did with this recipe.

Double-Crusted Caramel Apple Pie

This double-crusted apple pie has a creamy caramel sauce that is mixed into the apples right before baking. The addition of lemon zest keeps the rich caramel in check.

For the Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons water

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Pie crust

All-Butter Pie Dough

All-butter Pie Dough bakes up more crisp than the Flaky Pie Dough and is great for pumpkin pie, pecan pie, as well as fruit pies. It has a rich buttery flavor.

Makes enough dough for 1 double-crusted pie or 2 single-crust 10-inch pies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 to 8 Tablespoons ice water

To Make the Dough by Hand
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to combine.
2. Add the butter pieces, tossing with your fingers to coat each cube in the flour. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until it is the size of large peas.
3. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the water over the mixture and toss with a fork. The dough should hold together when you squeeze it in your hand. If it is too dry, add the rest of the water (or more if absolutely necessary).

To Make the Dough Using a Food Processor
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to combine.
2. Add the butter pieces, carefully tossing with your fingers to coat each one in flour. Pulse briefly, until the butter is the size of large peas.
3. Add 6 tablespoons of the water and pulse to combine. The dough should just hold together when you squeeze it in your hand. If it is too dry, add the rest of the water (or more if absolutely necessary).

To Rest the Dough
1. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat it together into one piece. Divide the dough into two equal parts, flatten each into a round disk, and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

To Roll the Dough
1. When the dough is chilled through, lightly flour a work surface. Unwrap the dough disk, lightly flour the top, and , using a rolling pin, press gently on the dough, from the middle upward, and then the middle downeard. Turn the dough disk a quarter turn and repeat the light pressing process. Add more flour if needed to prevent sticking.
2. The dough should now be a round, flatter version of the original dough disk. Sprinkle lightly with more flour if necessary, then gently roll the dough so that it is an inch wider all around than it was. Make a quarter turn, lifting the dough if it is sticking and lightly flouring the work surface below. Repeat this process until the round is roughly 12 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Slide it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and chill it in the fridge until you are ready to prebake or assemble your pie.
3. When you are ready to bake the dough, transfer it to a pie plate by sliding both palms under the dough and gently lifting it and placing it down over the center of the pie plate. Gently press the dough into the pie plate, being careful not to stretch it. Patch any rips or tears by pressing the dough together with your fingers.
4. Using clean scissors, trim off any dough in excess of 1 1/2 inches around the edges. Then gently roll the dough's edge under itself, creating a nice uniform edge to crimp. Lightly flour a fork and press the times along the top of the folded edge all around, or pinch the dough all around between your index finger and your thumb.
5. Put the pie crust in the refrigerator to rest and chill for at least 30 minutes.

For the Apple Filling

8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1.2-inch slices

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar, for sprinkling

For the Egg Wash

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Pinch kosher salt

To Make the Sauce

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream to hot, but not boiling, 3 to 4 minutes

2. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, and water and heat until amber in color (live clover honey), about 10 minutes. Immediately remove the caramelized sugar from the heat. (Please be careful when caramelizing sugar-no kids in the room. Hot sugar is a very bad burn.)

3. Slowly pour the cream into the caramel, stirring with a wooden spoon. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Let cool to warm.

To Prepare the Pie Crust

Roll out the dough into two rounds 14 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. Gently fit one into a 10-inch pie plate and lay the other flat on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble, at least 30 minutes.

Before you make the Filling

Position a rack in the bottom third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum.

To Make the Filling

1. In a large bowl, stir together the apples, zest, flour, sugar, and salt to combine.

2. Stir the caramel sauce (which should be warm but not hot) into the apples.

To Complete the Pie

1. For the egg wash: Whisk together the egg, heavy cream, and salt with a fork.

2. Pour the caramel apple filling into the unbaked pie shell. Brush the edges of the crust with some of the egg wash.

3. Place the second dough round on top of the filled pie shell. Fold under the edges and crimp.

4. Brush the top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons sugar. Cut 4 steam vents in the top crust.

5. Place the pie plate on the freshly lined cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and thick and the apples are tender. Remove to a wire rack to cool before serving.

This pie is best served warm or at room temperature. As with all fruit pies, it is best eaten the day it is baked.

(Next time I am choosing a recipe that doesn't require as much typing! Whew!)

Tuesdays with Dorie - My favorite Pecan Pie

This weeks recipe is My favorite Pecan Pie. It was chosen by Brina of Someone's in the Kitchen with Brina. Be sure to stop by her blog to see how wonderful it looks and to get the recipe so you can bake it yourself!

You only get one picture from me. My pie, while tasting fabulous, looked terrible. My crust slid down into the pie plate, even though I filled it with beans. My filling run out of the pie when I cut the first slice. And, that is after baking it for 10 minutes longer than called for in the recipe. I was afraid to bake it any longer for fear of burning the crust.

But, did I mention it tasted fabulous? Oh my! I am not a pecan pie fan. Normally they are waaaaay to sweet for my tastes, and I like sweet things. My hubby loves pecan pie. Love, love, loves it. He and his brother fight over the one his Mom makes for Thanksgiving every year. I had really high hopes for this and was going to surprise my hubby with this wonderful pie.

He was very apprehensive when I cut the first slice and he saw filling run into the pie plate. Every once in a while his Mom will have that happen and I know that is totally unacceptable. Pecan pie should have a thick filling that cradles the pecans in it's sweetness. Not mine. Not all of the filling ran out. And, it wasn't watery thin, it was like molasses, but it still ran.

But, did I mention it tasted fabulous? :D I never would have believed that cinnamon, espresso powder, chocolate and corn syrup could work together, but work together they do. This pie is sweet but not teeth hurting sweet. The espresso is a wonderful background flavor, blending with the chocolate and tickling your taste buds. The cinnamon is there too, but again, in the background, offering another gentle tickle. My hubby's opinion? He asked for seconds the minute he finished the first piece. Said it wasn't much to look at, but boy did it taste good. Said it was the best pecan pie he'd ever had. Pretty high praise indeed!

If you would like to see what all the rest of the bakers thought of this weeks choice, head over to TWD.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Should be...Actually is...

This weeks recipe is Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart. It was chosen by Lauren of I'll Eat You. If you want to see a truly gorgeous photo of what it should look like, and get the recipe so you can try it,  head over to Lauren's blog. Her photo of the finished tart is just beautiful and makes me regret not making it with her. Sorry Lauren. But, reading over the ingredient list alerted me to the fact that I would have to buy a lot of items to make this, and I just don't have the extra money right now. :(  You should check how the other TWD bakers made out with this weeks recipe.

Rather than not do any Tuesdays with Dorie this week, I looked through the book and picked something that had already been done, and that I had all the ingredients on hand for.Thus, the Blueberry pie that is sitting on my counter as I type this. The recipe for Dorie's Double Crusted Blueberry Pie is on pages 361-363 of "Baking - From my home to yours". It was the picture that drew me to this recipe. The pie pictured looks delicious. I love blueberry pie, but don't have it very often. You just don't see it much. Apple. Yes. Cherry. Yes. But, Blueberry. Not usually. And, as much as I love blueberries I never think to make a pie with them.

This was super easy to put together. The pie crust is made in the food processor. I believe I severly overtaxed my processor by making the double crust recipe, rather than making two single crusts. My food processor was whining (read screaming!) when I turned it off to take out the dough. Because I used frozen butter and shortening, I was able to roll out my crusts right away, without having to chill them in the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling.

The filling is pretty simple...blueberries, lemon zest and a splash of lemon juice, salt, sugar and flour. I was a bit puzzled when I read "Taste the filling..." (this is after mixing the berries with the other ingredients and letting it stand for 5 minutes). I didn't have any filling to taste. The berries were basically sitting on top of the sugar and flour mixture. No juice like you would have with an apple pie filling. So, I shrugged and went on with the recipe.

Baked it for the first 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Then turned my oven down to 375 degrees and baked it for the second 30 minutes.

I think my oven may be off. After the second 30 minutes, the pie didn't seem to be bubbling or even look like the filling was hot. I looked at my thermometer in the oven and it was reading 350. Darn! So I cranked up the oven another 10 degrees to 385 and added another 15 minutes to the baking time. Thought it looked pretty good at the end of the additional 15 minutes so I took it out and set it on the back deck to cool.

Just tried a piece. I have mixed feelings on this one. The crust is fabulous...light, flaky, buttery, crisp on the bottom. I guess the bread crumbs really help to keep that crispness even with all the juice. Yeah, lots of juice. None before I put it in the oven, but after I took out a slice, the spot where the piece of pie had been filled up with juice. And, I don't think it's from not letting it set long enough. I left it cooling for several hours before cutting into it. I could see the sugar/flour mixture mixed through the berries too. Not sure you should be able to see whitish stuff on your blueberry pie. :P And, the flavor...I cut back a little on the sugar after reading some old comments on this recipe in the forum. Now I am thinking I should have left the extra sugar in. The pie seems flat. Not sure if that's a good description, but it's what came to mind. There is no real WOW factor. It looks pretty. All those blueberries and that lovely crust. But, what my eyes see and what my tongue tastes are two different things.

I might try this one again. Maybe mash up some of the blueberries to help mix the flour and sugar together. Maybe add a touch more sugar or something.  I really like blueberry pie. Just wish this one had been better.