Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie; soft apples dressed in sweet salted caramel encased in cinnamon-spiked buttery pastry.
Is there any homemade dessert more comforting than apple pie?
Despite its late 1990s movie connotations, this pie is ever-popular, and is one that is never far from the Maverick Baking kitchen table at this time of year.
In this age of Instagram, apple recipes are slightly rarer and are generally less glamorous than the orange titan of autumn recipes. However, while pumpkins and their quirky squash relatives hog the limelight, the humble apple is always a cheap and reliable ingredient.
Also, let’s be serious, being a tad unfashionable is no bad thing.
Love apple recipes? Try out these Toffee Apple Turnovers!
Despite being a self-affirmed rampant chocolate addict, nothing lures me into the prospect of after-dinner sweetness than an apple pie. Especially when it looks like this Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie.
Tender chunks of sweet seasonal apples dressed in sticky-sweet buttery salted caramel. Crisp short pastry, laced with cosy cinnamon and ready to crumble like shortbread in your mouth. It will offer you sweet familiarity and filthy dessert satisfaction all at once.
Served warm, this Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie is like the warmest of hugs and the hottest of dirty texts at the same time.
The recipe for this Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie may look lengthy but is truly one of the simplest and most reliable ways to make an utterly banging apple pie every time. It takes a bit more hands-on time than cupcakes or cookies, but ultimately is nothing more than a divine combination of simple ingredients. Plus, you’re very likely to have some salted caramel sauce left over, and that is never a bad thing.
The basis is a classic shortcrust (or sweetcrust) pastry. This is built on a core of three ingredients: flour, butter, and sugar. Some people like to add egg to this kind of pastry, but I’m always an advocate of simplifying where possible so I simply use cold water to bind the pastry dough together. Adding a few dashes of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg upgrade it from a simple buttery treat to a deliciously flavourful pastry that’s really versatile for autumn recipes.
The concept of salted caramel in a pie may sound rich, heavy and excessive. However, the reality is quite the opposite. Dressing chopped apples in this sweet-and-salty sauce adds just enough sweetness, and the gentle butteriness takes away from the hyper-sweet flavour that simply using brown sugar can cause. To comfort salted caramel skeptics, this recipe isn’t like the richness of a gooey caramel chocolate, but rather a delicious balance of every taste your tongue craves.
You won’t need any fancy pastry equipment to make this Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie. Simply grab yourself a rolling pin and a fluted pie dish and you’ll be good to go! If you want to dress up your pie with pretty pastry strips on top, you can get yourself some pastry cutting tools, or simply use a pizza-cutter!
I hope you are all staying as happy and healthy as you can in this strange world we are in at the moment. As always, I’m very grateful to have you in this wee corner of the internet, and look forward to seeing you again.
Want to save this Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie for later? Pin the image below!
To make this Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie, simply follow the recipe below!
Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: why not add a splash of spiced rum to the apple filling before baking to make this pie even more special?
This Spiced Salted Caramel Apple Pie will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You could even prepare the pie right up to the baking stage and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking and serving!
Ingredients
For the spiced shortcrust pastry:
- 300g (2 ⅓ cups) plain flour
- 180g (12 tbsp) cold salted butter, cut into small cubes
- 4 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 3-4 tbsp cold water
For the salted caramel:
- 200g (1 cup) caster sugar
- 100ml (scant ½ cup) cold water
- 100g (7 tbsp) soft unsalted butter
- 100ml (scant ½ cup) double or whipping cream
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
For the apple filling:
- 4-6 of your favourite apples, sweet or tart
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ batch salted caramel (recipe below)
Instructions
For the spiced shortcrust pastry:
- If making by hand, rub the cubed butter into the flour, sugar and spices with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. If using a food processor, blitz all the pastry ingredients (except the water) until they resemble breadcrumbs.
- Add the cold water until the pastry comes together into a smooth ball of dough. If too sticky, add more flour, if too dry, add more water.
- Cut the dough into two equal lumps. Set one aside for assembling later.
- Roll one lump of dough out on a lightly floured surface until it reaches the thickness of about a £1 coin.
- Line a 9-inch fluted tart tin or pie dish with the pastry. The easiest way to do this is to roll it up around your rolling pin, then unroll it over the tin.
- Use your fingers to gently press the dough into the dish.
- Trim the excess pastry off the edges and chill the lined tin in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your salted caramel.
For the salted caramel:
- Pour your sugar and water into a small saucepan and set it over a medium-high heat.
- Allow to bubble and boil until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has turned a deep amber colour. This can take up to 10 minutes. (You can swirl or shake the pan but don’t stir as the caramel may crystallise!)
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter until melted. Be very careful as the mixture may splatter slightly.
- Whisk through the double cream and salt.
- Pour the salted caramel into a heatproof bowl, jug or jar.
- Set aside and allow to cool while you prepare your apples.
For the apple filling:
- Peel your apples and chop them into small cubes or slices, whichever you prefer.
- Place them into a large bowl and toss them with the flour and cinnamon.
- Pour the salted caramel (only ½ the batch, keep the rest for pouring on later or use in another recipe!) into the bowl and stir until all the apples are nicely coated.
To assemble and bake:
- Preheat your oven – 190 C / 170 C fan / 375 F / gas mark 5.
- Roll your remaining lump of pastry dough out on a lightly floured surface until it reaches the thickness of about a £1 coin.
- Use a knife or rolling cutter to slice the pastry sheet into strips. You can make them all uniform or do as I did and have various sizes!
- Remove your tin with the chilled pastry base from the fridge.
- Fill it with your apple mixture and spread out evenly.
- Lay your cut strips of pastry over the apple filling any way you like. I opted for a lattice, with each strip weaving over-and-under the others.
- Trim off any excess pastry hanging over the edges. You can gather up all the scraps for another recipe, or just bake them into little pastry shapes to snack on!
- Bake the assembled pie in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is crisp and golden.
- Allow the baked pie to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from the tin to serve (that filling gets really hot!).
- Slice up and serve with ice cream, custard, cream, or more salted caramel sauce.
- Enjoy!
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