Spiced Caramel Apple Pie
The other day Hubby cleaned out our basement storage area. He made a big pile of things to take to Goodwill. One of the things I pulled out of the Goodwill pile was my apple peeler/corer/slicer. I see why he put it in that pile, I haven’t used it since… well ever. I got it from my mom a long time ago and kind of forgot about it. See I am not a big apple pie fan. I’ve actually never made one before today. As I tried to explain to Hubby that we needed this torture-device looking cooking gadget, he promised to cut up any apples I ever need cut.
Hubby does cut the two apples I take in my lunch every morning. Yes, I realize I’m spoiled… Luckily for me (and Hubby) this debate took place during apple season. I told him to he should use it to cut, peel, and slice the apples for this pie. After using it once, he agreed that it was awesome and worth finding a place in our tiny kitchen to store it. In fact, he loved using this gadget so much, that he used it multiple times that same day since we had apple grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch too.
Now on to this pie. Holy wow. The filling in this pie is AMAZING. I had to take a bite of it before filling the pie and I joked to Hubby that I was just going to eat the filling without actually baking the pie. The sautéed apples are coated in a spiced caramel sauce that is out of this world.
This pie reminds me of a variety of apple favorites. It’s got the apple pie thing going, then topping reminds me of a great apple crisp, and the filling reminds me of spiced apple cider. We will definitely be sticking with this apple pie forever. I see no reason to try any other recipes out there.
One Year Ago: I met Alton Brown!
Two Years Ago: Peppery Lemon Brown Sugar Salmon – this is a favorite of ours, we make it very often for a quick dinner
Spiced Caramel Apple Pie
Yield: 1 pie
Ingredients:
1 crust worth of your favorite pie crust - here's the recipe I use
For the Topping
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For the Filling
5 to 6 medium-size tart apples, such as Braeburn, Cortland or Winesap
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Southern Comfort liqueur
1/2 cup heavy cream
Garnishes (optional)
Vanilla or cinnamon ice cream
Whipped cream
Caramel sauce
Directions:
Make your favorite pie crust and place in a pie plate.
For the Topping
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer, and toast them in the oven for about 7 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Coarsely chop the nuts.
In a food processor, process both sugars, the cinnamon, salt and flour for about 1 minute. Add butter; pulse 10 to 15 times, until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the pecans. Refrigerate the topping, covered, in a a medium bowl until ready to use.
For the Filling
Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Peel, core and cut the apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
When the butter starts to foam, add the apples and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle it on the apples, and reduce the heat under the skillet to medium-low. Simmer the apples for about 1 minute.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apples from the skillet to a large baking sheet, and arrange them in a single layer. (If you heap them in a pile, the hot apples will steam and get soggy.)
Pour the Southern Comfort into the butter-sugar mixture in the skillet. Simmer the mixture over medium heat at least 5 minutes, until the alcohol burns off. Add the cream, and continue cooking about 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick as pourable caramel. Return the apples to the skillet.
To Assemble
Pour the apple filling into the unbaked pie crust, and sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping is brown. Serve the pie warm or at room temperature with ice cream, whipped cream or caramel sauce.
Recipe as seen on Ezra Pound Cake, originally from The Pastry Queen
Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge – make something PINK by the end of the month to raise Breast Cancer Awareness!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
How cool! These look delicious!
This totally takes me back to childhood. We ALWAYS used fresh rhubarb from our backyard to make yummy breakfast treats!
I think I will have to make these for my parents next time they visit. They will LOVE them!
Those look amazing! I’m always on the lookout for new rhubarb recipes, the season for it is so short in Western Ma, that I tend to buy WAY too much and stick in the freezer..
I have never had rhubarb before, but these look great!
They’re so pretty – I love family recipes!
I never know what to do with Rhubard, but these looks awesome!
divine. i want one. right now. pretty please?? 🙂
I love your recipes, lactose free and awesome, I will def. have to try this. Ps. we should team up and do something lactose free together in solidarity!
Thanks everyone – seriously if you have rhubarb hanging around. Make these. You won’t regret it.
I’m a little lost. The ingredients list mentions 5 c. rhubarb (and you break it into 3 c. for the filling and 2 c. for the sauce) but I don’t see in the step-by-step instructions when/where/how the 2 c. of rhubarb are used. Please help!
Thanks!
alexandjess – thanks for catching my mistake. I added the instructions about the sauce into the post, but you make the sauce by boiling 2 cups cut rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/3 cups water. The rhubarb for the sauce can be cut in large chunks because it all falls apart anyways.
Your sisters made the rhubarb rolls and stuffed dates yesterday for our Memorial Day cookout. They were delicious!!!! Can’t wait to have another piece tonight for desert. I have a new recipe for potato salad that is delish….let me know if you want me to pass on.
i made these tonight and they went awry for a series of reasons that were my fault and won’t go all into…. one thing i did though was use half rhubarb and half strawberries, which sounded delish but i didn’t cut the sugar enough and i think that also made things more watery. my question though, is whether by ‘shortening’ you specifically mean something like crisco or whether you just mean butter or margarine or anything like that. i used butter and didn’t see how i could get away with a little ‘stirring’ before rolling. i tried to cut it in with a pastry blender, but in the end maybe that was too much action for the dough as it seemed a little gummy after cooking….
i’d appreciate any advice!
natasha – I use Crisco for the dough. I think that’s what my dad always uses as well. Hopefully that is what caused the gumminess. Sorry they didn’t turn out for you.
My family has been making these for years. I have used butter or margarine to cut into the flour mixture for the dough and have never had a problem. I always roll my dough out into a rectangle and when I cut the rolls they NEVER look as neat as the ones you have pictured! I have added strawberries but only in the sauce. My mom liked to add red food coloring to make it look more rosy. We bake for 20 minutes before pouring on the sauce and then another 20 minutes. I have to make it every spring in honor of my mom.
my grandma recipe calls thesr soringtime rollypoly, and can ad what ever frozen berries you have , frozen is the least messy
sorry thats springtime rollypolly